


The Tempest

by whichstiel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Bastardizing Shakespeare, Beach Sex, Beaches, Blow Jobs, Castiel/Dean Winchester First Kiss, Constructed Reality, Dean/Cas Big Bang, Desert Island, Dream Sex, Everybody Lives, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Frottage, Hand Jobs, Heaven, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Magic, Mutual Pining, Pining, References to Shakespeare, Rescue, Rescue Missions, Resurrection, Screenplay/Script Format, Shakespeare's The Tempest, Shakespearean Language, Staring, The Tempest, almost, play, tropical island
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-07 08:28:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 33,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12229230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whichstiel/pseuds/whichstiel
Summary: When Team Free Will learns that Bobby is in Heaven’s lockup, they mobilize to spring him out. Dean knows that nothing is ever easy, which is why he drags Castiel along for a last-night-on-Earth extravaganza just before the heist to free Bobby goes down. That evening shifts their relationship in new and unsettling ways, but there’s no time to explore it. They’ve got a mission.This tale, told half in prose and half in the style of a Shakespearean play, follows our players as they try to enact their rescue. The plan is simple: get in, get Bobby, get out again. When the rescue goes sideways, Dean, Sam, and Castiel find themselves trapped in a version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest - and the world is populated with some very familiar faces.





	1. Act I Scene I

**Author's Note:**

> This turned out to be so much fun to write. (In particular, I must confess, the beach sex.) I hope you enjoy it <3
> 
> My artist for this challenge is [ozonecologne](http://ozonecologne.tumblr.com/post/166259978358/my-art-for-whichstiels-wonderful-deancas-big) and you guys...I'm practically speechless. She did an AMAZING job and made such beautiful illustrations. Head on over to her Tumblr and heap on the accolades.
> 
> Huge thanks to [woollycas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/woollycas) and [superhoney](https://archiveofourown.org/users/superhoney) for being great beta readers. Your insight was invaluable! And thanks to [A_Diamond](https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Diamond/pseuds/A_Diamond) for reading my promo text when I was consumed by the hot fires of panic.
> 
> And, of course, thanks to [zaphodsgirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zaphodsgirl/works), without whose instant and constant enthusiasm this project might never have passed from thought into reality. :)
> 
> Finally, even though this isn't a Tropefest fic, thank the ever lovin' Chuck for the Tropefest chat - ever supportive and amusing all the way through DCBB.

**SETTING**

The island is small enough to be walked around in the span of a day. It's tropical - lush and green and dripping with brightly colored flora. Food and fresh water are plentiful and the seas are easily fished. The ocean waves are calmed by a reef surrounding the island, lending gentleness to the water on every edge of the isle. The weather is sweet and mild - most of the time. Storms can howl up without warning, casting great, black towers on the tiny island. Airplane wreckage is concentrated on two sides of the island. One scene of wreckage is fresh, with vending carts embedded in the sand like islands unto themselves. The other setting is old wreckage: a dismantled plane rusting outside of an old wooden cabin.

**CONTENTS**

Act I, Scene I: a perilous plane crash

_Behind the scenes: a plot to rescue Bobby is hatched_

Act I, Scene II: at the cabin

Act II, Scene I: on the other side of the island

Act II, Scene II: a chance meeting of like minds

Act III, Scene I: lovers become acquainted

Act III, Scene II: a plot is hatched

Act III, Scene III: the lovers’ cove

Act IV, Scene I: celebration, followed by peril from one quarter, then another

Act V, Scene I: the island’s residents unite and a fight ensues

Act V, Scene II: memories resurface

Epilogue: Bobby’s farewell

_Conclusion: return to the bunker_

**CHARACTERS***

KEVIN TRAN...............Flight attendant (Boatswain)

JO HARVELLE...............Pilot (Master)

CROWLEY...............Son of Rowena (Sycorax). Former king of the island (Caliban)

RUFUS TURNER...............Lord and trusted advisor of Queen (Gonzalo)

ELLEN HARVELLE...............Queen of Naples (Alonso)

CASTIEL...............Son of the Queen (Ferdinand)

EILEEN LEAHY...............Swordswoman and companion of Castiel (No original equivalent)

MEG MASTERS...............Sister of the Queen (Sebastian)

BELA TALBOT...............Usurping Duke of Milan (Antonio), Cousin to Bobby and John Winchester (the latter deceased, no original equivalent)

KALI...............Butler (Stephano)

BOBBY SINGER...............Uncle to Sam and Dean, ex-Duke of Milan (Prospero)

DEAN WINCHESTER...............Nephew of Bobby (Miranda)

SAM WINCHESTER...............Nephew of Bobby (No original equivalent)

GABRIEL...............Spirit servant of Bobby (Ariel)

CHARLIE BRADBURY...............Queen's lady (Francisco)

HANNAH...............Queen's lady (Adrian)

LILITH...............Conjured goddess (Iris)

ZACHARIAH...............Conjured god (Ceres)

AZAZEL...............Conjured god (Juno)

*the name in parenthesis indicates the original Shakespeare character from _The Tempest_

**ACT I**

**SCENE I**

**__** _(Lightning splits the dome of the sky like a cracked bowl. Thunder rages like a bellowing beast in the noon-day sky rendered black by cloud and rain. The feeble sound of the airplane engine is lost, drowned in the wash of noise from the storm.)_

_(Enter a pilot and flight attendant.)_

JO

Attendant!

KEVIN

Ho, pilot, how fare we?

JO

The air bares its teeth at us, snarls, rages

like a rav’nous tiger when food first met.

We fare poorly.

Roustle thy sturdiest compatriots,

tie the passengers to their swooning beds.

We may plummet like a drunk, skyworn finch

before this desperate eve departs.

_(exit JO)_

_(enter flight crew)_

KEVIN

To the galleys! To the galleys! Push! Pull!

Ply meat and ale, our finest foods to sop

the rush’d tears of every man and woman

who tread these planks. Brighten smiles, brush collars.

Ready the drink carts! Crack ope’ the liquors.

We may be ill fated before sunset.

_(Enter ELLEN, BELA, KALI, CASTIEL, EILEEN, RUFUS, and others)_

ELLEN

La, attendant, have care, stay thy gulping.

Where's the pilot? What malady looms close?

KEVIN

Pray, stay in thy seats.

KALI

Get the pilot, little gnat. Or flap off.

KEVIN

What muddy malady befell thine ears?

Fix thy hoary bottoms to thy seats, stay.

Lash flesh to cushion and tie tight the bond.

Clear the aisles! Clear the aisles!

Fix thine eyes upon the portents which gleam

balefully from the overhead bins.

Or attendest them not. I care not which.

Thy choice becomes thine own bitter demise.

Oh, would that I had one bare moment free

for any of this maundering nonsense.

Here, have a bottle. Be calmed. Be ye calmed.

RUFUS

The sky yet shines sapphire in pockets. Surely…

KEVIN

Oh, noble sir! 'Tis surely of import

that the robin's egg keeps its sweet color

when shattered upon the ground, oozing muck.

Nay, nay, that dark pit of churning cloud there

leaves nothing for concern to trouble thee.

Sit thee down.

RUFUS

Wag a dull tongue or speakest not at all.

There be better men than thee here aloft.

KEVIN

Not a one as good as myself, I trow.

Oh, noble lord. Oh, pedestaled lady.

I collapse in thy shadow, feeble and

prostrate. A curtsy at e'ry aisle.

Please.

I walk as a prophet among this herd,

bringing small balms and undoing untruths.

So, Sir, whisper lovely words at the wind,

tell it to cease its howling, loose its hand.

Go, give us loft with the lift of thy lip.

Or, settle thyself. Prepare for the end.

Elbows in.

_(exit KEVIN)_

RUFUS

What an indigestible ass he is.

A stick rests halfway up that bum-bailiff.

Such spite I have never seen. Yet I’ll say

I should clap him proudly on the shoulder,

he delights me in his venom’s spittle.

Is this studious attendant ready

to die, so sour is he on life?

_(exit RUFUS)_

_(re-enter KEVIN)_

KEVIN

Clear the aisles! 'Ware the warnings. Clear the aisles!

Masks fall like daffodils in summer's heat.

Catch them if ye may. Look to thine selves first.

Rest ye there, rest ye there. Close this table.

Ma’am, though it delivers dreaming respite,

glory, relief from this lalopping hell,

stow thy devices large and small, I pray.

This storm rattles so these glimm’ring walls

and desp’rate howling crushes me to death.

_(re-enter BELA, KALI, RUFUS)_

Away! Back to thy seats. What thinkest thou?

This bird’s bucking will surely dash thy skulls.

BELA

A pox on thee, th’art a weeping pustule.

KEVIN

Not a word bastardous bag. Sit thou down.

KALI

Ah, this lark thinks 'tis a hawk. Noble cur.

I’ll have thy head which speaketh so poorly.

‘Ware - I’ll cut and stow it in my valise

should one more ill word be spoken to me,

thou scurril’ous knave. Thy fearful knees quake.

KEVIN

I’ll tell thee where to stow thy opinions.

_(to flight crew and cabin at large)_

Stand fast, mates, and wary eye forward now.

Grasp the mask thus and snap it o'er lips, nose.

Shriek not, yet breathe steadily in and out.

Tend to the young first, nobility poxed.

_(enter JO over the intercom)_

JO

The end waits with teeth and tongue, casts hot breath

on our shoulders where darkness swallows us

as steadily as a babe sucks a teat.

This batt’red ship spins loose across the sky.

Shout supplication to gods, great or small

or shall they unhear us for our shrieking?

KEVIN

Nay, I’ll beseech first to human powers.

Pilot, wrestle the lightning which struck us,

make fast this ship hurtling through the air.

God will not hear us.

CASTIEL

_(signing and speaking)_

Oh, sweet father.

That thou might hear us! Settle us gently,

our dainty vessel in thy mighty palm.

Calm the winds, stir the currents widdershins

and waft us feather gentle to safety.

EILEEN

_(signing and speaking)_

Prince, were thy sweet words inducement enough

God himself would descend to answer thee,

but this rattling cage covers our cries.

Would that my sword were enough to save thee

from ocean’s greedy mouth and sandy teeth.

Alas, my blade’s dull ‘gainst this enemy.

ELLEN

Oh prince, my son, shining star heaven plucked,

I’ll join thee and wish my powers ruled air.

RUFUS

The queen and prince are praying. Let’s help them.

BELA

La, these lily-gutted fools. Should we wail?

Gnash teeth? Rend nails in bloody streaks? Or else

do we find salvation in our own hands?

Lend me a sail, or I shall make my own

while the sky shakes apart around our ears.

_(A confused chorus: we're going down oh god oh god we're all gonna die)_

KALI

The queen prays for water in an ocean,

a single tear slips from her rattling cheek.

A diamond’s useless in a collapsed mine.

I’ll not endure it but find my own way.

Fools all! Farewell. Thine end in coral lies.

_(exit KALI)_

RUFUS

I would give anything to feel soft sand.

Dry desert. Boulder waste. Anything save this.

I'd rather die a soft death than flattened.

_(curtains close)_


	2. Behind the Curtains

**Behind the Curtains**

**__** _(The bunker is softly lit, sconces barely illuminating the gleaming wood of the library table. Books litter the surface of the table. Bowls, bags, and jars of magical ingredients occupy one end of the table.)_

_(Enter DEAN, CASTIEL, and SAM)_

Dean hurled the stone pestle across the room where it cracked against the bunker’s library shelf. The room fell quiet and Dean shook out his hand, then balled it into a fist and pressed it hard into the polished wooden table. “What do you mean,” he growled, “when you say Bobby’s missing?” Across the table, Sam and Castiel traded twin looks of silent horror.

The bowl set before them hissed out another puff of smoke and Ash’s voice emerged from the walkie talkie wedged into the smoldering herbs. “Exactly that, man. One day he says he’s gonna close off into his own space for a while and the next he’s completely incommunicado. I tried everything, too. Spells and runes and tarot. Sticking my ear to angel radio. Everything’s just turned up empty.”

Dean bent over the table as though he could lean far enough over to stare through the bowl straight into Heaven and search for Bobby himself. “Empty? Empty how?”

“Any messages are return to sender, soul unknown. It made me wonder if his soul had been--” Ash broke off sharply and Dean could practically see him sadly shaking his head over his laptop in Heaven’s version of the Roadhouse.

“Destroyed?” Sam finished the thought, his eyes dull with horror. He turned to Castiel. “Cas, the last time we saw him, he’d helped us with--” Sam gulped and glanced at Dean fleetingly.

Dean’s gut turned over. The last time Bobby had been seen in Heaven, he’d been helping Sam and Castiel break Metatron out of Heaven’s jail and smuggle him to Earth. Could something have happened to Bobby after they’d left? “He’d helped you guys bust out Metatron,” Dean said. “Ash, you think the angels did something to Bobby?”

“Could be. Angel radio blew up a while back. Something about ‘surly Bobbys’ running wild. Didn’t think much of it at the time. Every once in a while someone busts outta Heaven on their own and gets caught by angels before we can get to ‘em. They round ‘em up, we slip ‘em the codes to sneak around behind the scenes, and everyone’s happy. We got a lot of Bobbys running around the Roadhouse thanks to that.”

“Did he go missing directly afterward?” Castiel shot a worried look at Dean. “Did you speak to him later?”

“Nah. We tried, uh… a while later?” Ash’s sigh filled the room with a large puff of smoke. “Time’s sorta...wiggly here. We noticed he’d gone but honestly, I got no idea how long it’d been. It coulda been right after though.”

Castiel grimaced at the bowl. “Ash, have you tried the lotus flux variation on the _lux animae_ tracking spell? If Bobby’s soul is hidden but intact anywhere in the Heavenly sphere, it should detect whether his soul…” He glanced at Dean with a shadowed expression. “Whether his soul exists in that plane even if it won’t pinpoint his location.”

“No, man. Never even heard of it.” Ash’s tone sounded brightly curious. There was the sound of keyboard keys rattling over the smokey connection. “Tell me.”

Castiel hunched over the bowl, giving slow, clear directions on performing the _lux animae_ spell with the proper variations to cut through the entirety of Heaven - including areas shielded from detection. “It’s rarely been used. The whereabouts of each soul’s heaven is a fixed point in each angel’s mind. Since most souls stay in their heavens, we rarely need detection spells. Even with your rebellion it’s more or less useless. The angels know you’re still in Heaven, but ‘off the grid.’ They can’t find you with it. But if you try that for Bobby, that will tell us whether his soul is somewhere in Heaven, at least. It’s a place to start.”

“Bad ass,” Ash replied. “I’ll give it a try. You wanna hold the line?”

“It shouldn’t take long,” Castiel said quietly. “We’ll hold.”

The bowl puffed gently in reply and Sam blew out a deep sigh, running his hand through his hair. “Shit,” he hissed quietly, shaking his head. “Bobby’s…”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Castiel said, his brow pinched with worry.

“Oh yeah. Angels would never hurt a human,” Dean said bitterly. He shoved his hands into his pockets and began to pace. A minute ticked by, then two. Worry and guilt rose up like twin snakes whenever he thought about what had occurred while he’d possessed the Mark of Cain. So many lives had been hurt or lost because of one stupid, hurt-fueled choice. _I’ll never finish paying for that._ By the look on Sam’s and Castiel’s faces, they felt the same way. Dean wanted to rage. He wanted someone to blame but in the end he knew it came back to him. _This is all my fault._

The connection bubbled to life again. “Alright, guys. Check this shit out,” Ash said with the thrill of victory in his tone. “Cas, man. Your spell worked. Bobby’s soul is still in Heaven.”

Dean heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank fuck. Did you get any kind of fix?”

“Well, like Cas said. This thing don’t tell you where Bobby’s at. But I went back through our logs to the ‘Bobby’ incident.” Sam raised his brow and Dean shook his head. Of course Ash kept logs of angel radio. “They talked a lot about rounding up all the Bobbys and then they spent a while shouting about trees.”

Castiel’s brows shot up. “Trees?” he said sharply.

“Yeah, ring a bell?”

Castiel’s face drained of color. “Trees,” he asked carefully, “or The Tree?”

“Hey, yeah. The Tree. They kept talking about apples and light and…well…at the time I just figured they were talking about sin. Ya know. ‘Cause angels?”

Dean stalked around the table, pressed his palms into the wood and lowered his head so he could stare straight into Castiel’s eyes as he asked, “The Tree? Let me guess. That ain’t a Heavenly vacation spot.”

Castiel shook his head slowly, unflinching in returning Dean’s stare. “It’s not.”

The radio screeched on the table and Sam hastily threw another pinch of bone ash into the bowl. The background noise softened to static again. “So Bobby’s locked up in some place called The Tree?” Sam asked.

“That seems likely,” Castiel said. “It’s a prison, of sorts.”

“Got any idea how we can get to it, man?” Ash asked.

“No.” Castiel dropped his chin down and stared at a pile of herbs on the cutting board. “Its whereabouts are only rumor to most angels. The jail has been preferred as an incarceration location for aeons. The Tree was created first but considered too esoteric, too inaccessible for practical use.” He broke off and looked at the bowl. “I’m sorry. I don’t know enough to tell you where to go.”

“Well, shit, man. I guess we’ll dig into it, all the same. Can’t be too hard to start scanning for ‘The Tree.’”

“Don’t.” Castiel’s rejoinder was sharp and he softened his tone a moment later. “Don’t look for it. Don’t talk about it. In fact, even mentioning it over this channel may compromise your position. We’re talking about a secret and supposedly never-used prison. It’s not safe for you to pursue this.”

“So what, Bobby’s just gonna rot in soul jail for the rest of eternity?” Dean rapped his knuckles harshly against the tabletop. “You bet your ass I ain’t down for that.”

“No, that’s— That’s not what I mean. We need time to research this. To— To figure out what to do. We shouldn’t rush in. It’s too dangerous. It could compromise everything you’ve built. Promise me you won’t act on this, Ash. Not yet.”

The line was quiet for nearly a minute and Dean’s heart jumped in his throat. “Fine,” Ash said at last. “I’ll sit on this for now but you check in, you hear? I don’t wanna wait on this forever. It’s Bobby, you know?”

“Yeah, man. We know,” Sam said, his brow furrowed in worry. “You take care of yourself, okay?”

“10-4,” Ash said and the smoke dissipated into a thin fog over the table.

Dean balled his hand into a fist and pressed it into the wood. The pressure cut into his awareness, interrupting the scream he could feel welling up from his gut. “God damn it,” he whispered. “Bobby, you—“ He looked at Sam, then at Castiel.

“This is all my fault,” Sam said.

“No, Sam,” Castiel looked hollow. “It’s my fault. I should have immediately escorted him back to his Heaven before seeking out Metatron. Perhaps then he wouldn’t have been detected and seized.”

Dean sighed and ground his hand into the table. A muscle worked in his tensed jaw until he finally said, “You did the best you could, Cas. And hey, if you hadn’t busted Metatron outta prison, you never woulda gotten your grace back, right?” He looked up towards the overstuffed bookshelves. “We’ll figure out what the hell ‘The Tree’ is supposed to be or where and then bust Bobby out.”

“So it’s research time,” guessed Sam.

Castiel looked troubled but he pushed back his chair and stood, turning towards the shelves. “If it’s anywhere, it’ll be in your books about angel lore.” He ran a finger down the dusty spines of one row before plucking out a crimson bound book. “The Tree is rumored to hold some of the most powerful creatures in the universe. It’s designed to hold archangels.”

* * *

Two weeks later, Dean wanted to dig his fingers into the concrete and rip apart a wall. They’d been pouring through books, desperately trying to find out any details about The Tree. He slammed _Sekrets of the Inimitable Host_ closed with a dusty gasp and leaned back in his chair. His spine cracked.

“Nothing?” Sam sounded glum and unsurprised.

“Of course fucking not.”

“Maybe Cas’ll find something.”

Dean sighed and scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Yeah. Maybe.” He dropped his head back and stared at the somber gray ceiling. His mind felt like a coiling worm, churning with worry over Bobby. He knew objectively that if Bobby was imprisoned in Heaven’s version of super max, then he’d already been there for years. Hell, the way time passed in Heaven it could have even been decades. He shouldn’t feel this crushing sense of urgency. And yet this was about Bobby - the man who’d been a father to him in so many ways. Who’d taken them fishing and to a ball park. Who’d taught him how to fix cars and appreciate fiction. His dad had always handed Dean books of lore but Bobby had sent Dean and Sam on their way with stacks of comic books and pulpy novels. He’d whiled away hours waiting for their dad by reading through Bobby’s tersely delivered book recommendations. He owed Bobby everything. There had to be a way to free his soul and set him to rights again in Heaven.

Sam looked up. “You should try that Arcturus series next.”

“Yeah. Alright.” He cracked his neck and pushed back from the table. The creak of his chair legs scratching along the floor were echoed by the bunker door groaning open. He looked up to see a trenchcoat flutter through the doorway. “Cas! You’re back! How was Panama?”

“Warm.” Castiel closed the door and stood at the crest of the balcony for a moment. Water dripped from his coat and his hair was matted down in dark streaks along his temples. He shook his shoulders like an agitated bird, then nodded slowly. “Dean. Sam. I think I found something.” He shrugged off his coat as he walked down the stairs and Dean walked over to meet him at the map table, taking his coat from him and laying it over a wrought iron rail. He looked exhausted after so many long days in the truck.

They had quickly gone through the bunker’s resources on angels and Castiel had volunteered to make the long drive to a recently discovered Men of Letters bunker in Central America. Castiel pulled a sheet of paper from his pants pocket and unfolded it, handing it to Dean. It was covered in Castiel’s looping scrawl, and showcased a confusing combination of English, Spanish, and Enochian. Pain twinged in Dean’s temple and he handed it back to Castiel with an apologetic grimace. “You’re gonna need to walk me through that.”

Castiel’s lips raised in a half smile, something like cocky pride dancing in his eyes. “Precisely why I didn’t text it to you. There are still a few things I need to look up.” He strode purposefully past Dean towards the library shelves and Dean grabbed at his arm, fingers digging into the wet fabric of his shirt.

“Whoa, whoa. You’re soaking wet. You’re gonna ruin the wood. Let’s get you a towel.”

Castiel rolled his eyes, closed them and vapor rose from his body like an instantly formed cloud. He looked down at his now dry clothing, then back up at Dean. “Is this better?”

Dean chuckled. “Show off,” he said, then followed Castiel to the library table.

Sam took the paper from Castiel and spread it out in front of him while Castiel walked to the shelves. He ran his finger along the spines of a set of books bound in deep, midnight-blue leather, then tapped one and pulled it from the shelf. He set it on the table next to Sam and flipped through the pages, until he arrived at a folded folio in the center of the book. He opened it to reveal a page cramped with tiny Enochian script. “Equations,” he said in response to Dean’s surprised huff. “We can’t alter the spell to get an absolute fix on Bobby’s location and I wasn’t able to find any further information indicating the location of The Tree. The _animus lux_ spell traces the existence of the soul. That’s the easy part.”

“We’re still stuck on step one,” Dean said. “So what’s your plan?”

Castiel grinned at him, a sly edge to his smile. Excitement warmed his expression. “We use the same spell to break him out.”

Sam was busily looking back and forth between Castiel’s sheet of notes and the open book. “You’ve got the setup for a summoning spell here.”

“That’s right,” Castiel said. He jabbed a finger in the center of the folio, running it along a circular diagram of Enochian glyphs. “I think we can inject a summoning spell to draw Bobby out of The Tree and back to his Heaven.”

“Isn’t The Tree supposed to be some kind of ultimate Heavenly prison?” Sam asked.

“It is,” Castiel said, grabbing up Sam’s pencil and scribbling onto a corner of his sheet of notes. “And it would probably be impossible to break him out of it without an exact location...if Bobby were an angel.” He looked up and earnestly jabbed a pencil towards Dean. “Bobby is a human soul sent rightfully to Heaven. That means that his soul has created his own Heaven.”

Sam leaned back in his chair and began to grin. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Castiel shoved his sleeves halfway up his forearms and continued writing feverishly. “Most of Bobby’s soul is imprisoned, but not all of it.”

“Bobby’s Heaven,” Sam said in wonder, his eyes lighting up.

Castiel nodded. “Bobby’s Heaven.”

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay, so let me get this straight. Everyone’s personal Heaven in, uh, Heaven...is attached to their soul?”

“It’s grown out of their soul. It is an extension of their soul. A part made manifest as a whole. If we alter this spell properly then we can call on the summoning spell to unify Bobby and his Heaven. And since personal Heavens are fixed locations upon Heaven’s sphere, Bobby’s soul should be immediately drawn from the prison to his Heaven - to rejoin the stationary part of his soul.”

“Fuck,” Dean said and slowly smiled. He leaned on the table and stared fondly across at Castiel’s feverish work. “We can save Bobby.”

Castiel spared a brief glance upward to meet his gaze, his mouth turning up again in a pleased half smile. “Of course, we need to get the mathematics perfect or the spell can be instantly traced back to us before we can pull Bobby through. My brothers and sisters would be upon us in an instant, so we’ll need to shield the spell for as long as we can and use its ambiguity against any attempts to track its origin.”

“Cas,” Dean said, shaking his head in wonder. “You’re amazing. What do we need and when do we go?”

Castiel wrinkled his brow and slowly set the pencil down before looking up at Dean, then down at Sam. “You’re not going. And I’ll need some ingredients, plus something personal of Bobby’s would be advantageous.”

Sam’s face fell. “We didn’t keep anyth--”

“I got something of Bobby’s,” Dean said gruffly. “Also, we’re going.”

“No, you’re not.” Castiel raised a brow in defiance. “Or do you not recall that the portal to Heaven will kill any mortal who steps through it?”

Dean lowered his chin so he could look at Castiel with as much force as he could muster. “So we find another way up,” he said simply. “We’re not letting you face those sons of bitches alone, okay?”

“Dean, you can’t really--”

“You’re not. Going. Alone. Back me up here, Sam.”

Dean glared at Sam who in turn glanced up at Castiel. Sam winced at the mulish expression he found there and then said, “Actually, there may be a way for us to bust into Heaven. As long as we’re under the protection of an angel, there’s a spell that will tie us to…” He cleared his throat and flicked his gaze between Dean and Castiel for a moment before saying, “an angel’s grace. Your grace, Cas. It’ll protect us when we go through the portal.”

Castiel froze, eyes lighting on Sam with a combination of surprise and chagrin etching lines around his eyes. “How did you know about that?”

Sam closed the book in front of him to reveal the cover, _Gateways and Portals to Hidden Realms,_ and Castiel sighed. “Anastasia van Demore. Of course.”

“You knew her?” Sam looked impressed.

“Marginally,” Castiel said. “It...it can be done. But it’s dangerous. It’s much better if I go alone. You could both die.”

“Yeah, well, so could you,” Dean said. He leaned forward, knuckles pressing into the wood, and said very slowly. “We won’t let you go alone. We stick together, alright?” _I won’t lose you._ The thought pushed its way into his head, threatening to skate past his lips and he clenched his teeth and swallowed hard. “We gotta look out for each other.”

Castiel sighed, his blue gaze settled on Dean as though carefully measuring how much resistance he was up against. Finally, he said, “Alright. But you’ve got to follow my orders exactly.”

“So it’s settled, then,” Dean said smugly, slapping the table top. “We’re all going up.”

* * *

The spell needed to be performed on the dawn of a new moon which ground their plans to a halt for a little over a week. Since it took only a few days to prepare, by the time the day of their assault on Heaven approached, restlessness had consumed Dean. The next morning they would head to the portal and break into Heaven but hours stretched molasses slow between then and now. Dean restlessly tapped at the beer bottle in front of him with his fingernail. “Man, I gotta get out of here for a couple hours.” Dean looked at Sam pleadingly. “I’m climbing the walls here. Want to hit Chester’s with me for a few?”

Sam wrinkled his nose. “No thank you,” he said in definitive tones. “I’ll probably turn in soon. Be ready for tomorrow? I just want to read up a little more on the theory behind the spell.” He gestured to the book opened on the table.

“Dude. Haven’t you been reading that every day for the last week? We’re ready to do this. You gotta take a break, man. Charge those batteries.”

Sam laughed. “Yeah. Think I’ll be better off trying to get some sleep. You should go though. Take Cas with you.”

Dean cracked his neck. “Your loss,” he said. He headed to his room to grab a jacket, then made his way towards the garage. He paused by Castiel’s room. The door stood slightly ajar and it was silent within. He took a slow breath, then knocked quietly.

“Come in,” Castiel said. Dean pushed open the door to find Castiel sitting with his legs up on the bed. A book was balanced on his knees and he scribbled on a pad of paper sitting on the bedspread beside his thigh. His brow was furrowed in concentration, but his expression lifted when he looked up and saw Dean. “I’m just writing out my notes for future posterity. In case--”

Dean lifted a hand. “Don’t even say it,” he said. “We’re gonna get up there fine, get Bobby smuggled out to Ash’s network, and get out before anyone up there knows what hit ‘em.”

Castiel sighed and nodded, pressing his pencil down onto the pad of paper. “I wish you would reconsider.”

Dean raised one brow at Castiel. “I’m not leaving you to face those mooks alone, okay? Now. Drop the pencil. You’re coming out with me to Chesters for a drink.”

“I should really finish—“

Dean jabbed his finger menacingly at the notepad. “Leave it for now. You can do more when we get back if you want.” He dropped the mock sternness from his expression. “Come on. We got this. Please, Cas. Just for one drink.”

Castiel rolled his eyes but a ghost of a smile cracked his expression. He moved the book from his knees, placing the ancient leather-bound volume on the corner of his bedspread. “I’ll go then,” he said, throwing his legs over the side of the bed. “For a little while.”

Dean led Castiel out to the garage, a feeling of loose satisfaction washing over him. Tomorrow morning he was going to pay Bobby back as best as he could for helping with the conspiracy to release Metatron - which had all been part of a convoluted plan to save him from the Mark of Cain. Their mission tomorrow would be dangerous, but with their powerhouse team they had a chance. When he slid behind the Impala’s steering wheel he closed his eyes and took a long, slow breath. Castiel settled in the passenger’s seat, drawing up on knee to settle against the door. The other leg sprawled out as much as he was able to do into the footwell. “I’ve never been to Chester’s,” Castiel said quietly.

“Yeah, guess we don’t go out much when you’re around the bunker.” Dean tilted his head in consideration. “Not much to it. Good place to pick up some extra cash.” To be honest, it was also a great place to pick up a hot bartender or a local office drone yearning for a taste of a wilder life. Tonight, it would be a good place for a some quiet anonymous drinking in the darker recesses of the bar. He could drink anywhere, but there was something about holing up in a bar, surrounded by people living quietly normal lives that soothed him.

Dean turned the key in the ignition and Baby growled to life. Dean smiled a little at the sound of the engine’s thick purr. She’d been sitting in the bunker for way too long. He threw the car into drive and steered her out through the bunker’s tunnel and into the starlit evening.

* * *

Despite Dean’s resolve to limit their visit to Chester’s to one drink, when he walked into the bar a sign screamed about a special on shots. During the drive, the magnitude of their impending task - saving Bobby - began to well up in Dean again. It was easy to spout confident words. It was very hard to believe them himself. So he’d ordered a flight of the specials and the night began to blur from there. Now they sat in a corner of the bar, jackets cushioning their bar stools. It was warm and hazy inside, lit by golden lamps and multicolored bundles of Christmas lights strung up along the windows. He grinned loosely at Castiel, feeling soft and fuzzy around the edges. “You’re telling me a reaper would still take Vader downstairs?”

Castiel shoved a peanut around the bar counter. He leaned his head on his hand and smiled at Dean. “That’s exactly what I’m telling you. He committed terrible acts. One last minute sacrifice wouldn’t be enough to save him.”

Dean leaned in and plucked the peanut from Castiel’s fingers. “What if Chuck’s a fan of Star Wars?”

Castiel rolled his eyes. “Fine. If Chuck had a vested interest in Darth Vader - which is patently ridiculous given that he’s fictional in the first place - he would be able to ‘override’ Heaven’s judgment. But that’s the only way.”

“Harsh.”

“Star Wars is fictional.”

“Cold as ice,” Dean hissed and he settled one hand on Castiel’s shoulder, reveling in the feeling of his warm skin emanating through his thin dress shirt.

“It doesn’t help that he worshipped this ‘life force’ cult, either.” Castiel grinned smugly at Dean’s shocked gasp.

“Dude. It’s not a cult. It’s...it’s everything. The force surrounds us...” Castiel started to chuckle and Dean knocked his knuckles against his shoulder. “Dude. Are you laughing at me?”

Castiel shook his head. “You’re very invested in these stories.”

“Yeah, well,” Dean grumbled. “So’s anyone who likes fun.” He realized belatedly that his hand still pressed against Castiel and he dropped it, suddenly self conscious. To cover his sudden movement he brought his hands together to crack his knuckles, then looked around the bar. “Prospects ain’t hot tonight.” In fact, the bar teemed with life. They’d had to push their way through two large knots of women, one whole group of them decorated with phallus-shaped paraphernalia. Dean turned to Castiel and felt himself sink into his gaze for the fifth or sixth or twentieth time that night. “Can’t win ‘em all,” he said quietly.

“No,” Castiel agreed. “You can’t.” He lifted two fingers, signaling the bartender and pointing to Dean’s glass, then himself. The bartender smiled, flipped back her deep auburn hair, and filled a glass full from a tap extending from the bar. She slid it in front of Castiel and leaned her elbows on the table.

Her mouth slid up into a half smile. “Can I get you anything else?”

“No, thank you.” Beside him, Dean huffed out a short laugh. The bartender arched her brow at him and pulled a towel from a loop at her waist. She grabbed Dean’s empty shot glasses and wiped at the gathered water, then sauntered off to the other end of the bar. Her hips swayed slowly as she strolled and she glanced back at Castiel and winked.

“Wow,” Dean said. “I mean. She’s into you, dude. You should jump on that.”

Castiel frowned and propped his elbow onto the bar, leaning his cheek into his hand as he rolled his head towards Dean. “No, thank you.”

Dean shot him a real smile, then. The bartender brought their drinks, sliding them across the bar and wiping the streaked condensation from the worn countertop before walking away again to the dense knot of people closest to the door. Dean picked up his glass and took a long gulp of beer, then licked the foam from his upper lip. His body hummed happily with liquor like he was covered in a warmed electric blanket. “Well, it’s getting late. What do you say we head out after this one?”

Castiel lifted his own glass to his lips and gave a short nod of assent. “Of course, Dean.”

They finished their drinks in silence. When they left the bar, Dean found that he needed to supply considerably more concentration than he usually did to the act of walking. He frowned at his feet and pointed them towards the parking lot, following Castiel’s much steadier path to the Impala. He rounded the front of the car and swayed minutely in the barely present breeze. Then he turned and leaned against the driver’s side door of the Impala, a thin sheen of sweat cooling on his brow. “Cas,” Dean said, and screwed his eyes tight.

* * *

Castiel stood near the front bumper, his hands shoved in his pockets. He’d watched Dean’s weaving progress across the lot with increasing concern. Hesitantly, he had broached the idea of healing Dean’s hangover when Dean had lurched into him as he’d pushed out the door. Castiel’s suggestion had been soundly rebuffed by a near snarl so Castiel had led the way out to the Impala. This was not the first time he’d seen Dean imbibe enough alcohol to become affected by it. He settled in, leaning one leg against the car. He could wait. They would both wait until Dean had unraveled his pride enough to ask what needed asking.

Dean groaned and swayed into the car, resting his forehead on Baby’s hood. “I feel fucking lame asking this,” Dean said, lifting his eyes to Castiel. “But something ain’t sittin’ right. I think I need you to drive, man.”

“Of course, Dean,” Castiel said, hoping he was effectively hiding his relief. He’d never forced his healing on Dean and he wasn’t about to start. Still, healing a hangover was far easier than mangled limbs from a vehicle accident. He watched Dean slide his way around the car and opened the driver’s side door only when Dean gingerly lowered himself into the passenger seat. He settled himself behind the wheel then held out his hand for the keys and started the car. Slowly, out of as much care for Dean’s car as he had for Dean’s shaky digestion, he pulled out of the bar parking lot.

They drove in relative silence for a while with only the sound of the engine’s growl pressing around them. Dean had the window rolled down and wind buffeted into the car in great billowing gasps. He sat with his arm propped into the open window, his head resting on his hand. His eyes were half shut as he squinted into the dark night beyond.

“Pull over up here,” Dean said suddenly, lifting his head from his hand and looking over at Castiel who squinted into the darkness. Fields stretched out on either side of the road, pocked by the occasional farmhouse, windows lit against the night. “There’s a pull off about a quarter mile up. Here, slow down.” He leaned forward and pointed towards twin reflectors shining like red eyes on the side of the road.

Castiel slowed and turned at the first reflector onto a skinny gravel road. Ruts worn into the ground embraced the Impala’s tires and overgrown grass in a median strip thunked against the undercarriage like a steady low drumbeat. Castiel drove out to the middle of the field, corn stretching on one side and low soybeans on the other, and killed the headlights at Dean’s instruction. Dean leaned over and switched off the ignition, pulling out and palming the keys. He grinned lopsidedly at Castiel. “Come on, man,” he said, then leaned away and opened his door.

The door creaked open and Dean climbed out of the Impala. Castiel waited one more moment to see if perhaps he was planning on doing something quickly before getting back in again, and then he got out as well. Dean stood stretching his arms up over his head, a long dark line silhouetted against the corn stalks. He groaned as he did so and Castiel asked, “Are you alright? You don’t need to vomit or…?”

Dean laid a heavy hand on the hood of the Impala and let out a short laugh. “You think I asked you to pull over so I could throw up, huh? Man, Cas. I don’t know whether to feel insulted or…” He shook his head, a ghost of a smile still lingering on his lips. Dean looked up at the sky. “You ever stare at the stars, Cas?” he asked.

Castiel frowned. “I have looked at them, yes. I—“

Dean slid onto the hood of the car. “No.” He dug his feet into the front of the car and pushed back until his back rested against the windshield. His head thunked against the glass. “I mean, just look at ‘em.” He patted the metal and let his head swing to the side. He grinned loosely. “Get up here, Cas.”

Castiel considered him for a moment. Now that night had fallen it was cool in the field and a light breeze rustled over everything, turning the field into a susurration worthy of an ocean. Dean had an odd look to him, casually drunk but with an edge to him as though he wasn’t comfortable in his skin at the moment. While that was a feeling Castiel could deeply sympathize with, he couldn’t pin down exactly what was going on with Dean. Carefully, he settled his hip against the hood and pushed his way up. The car creaked under their combined weight.

He settled himself back against the windshield, shoulder brushing with Dean’s, and leaned his head back. Above them stars blanketed a velvet sky. There was too much light here, and too much atmosphere to see everything. The Milky Way was a faint line against the sky, though the brighter stars shone in stark relief. Castiel stared at the sky and took a deep breath in. “How are you feeling?” he asked quietly.

“I’m alright.” Dean sighed. “Well. Not alright. But doing okay. On the vomit front.” He lifted one hand to rub at his forehead. “On other fronts, not so much.”

“Bobby?” Castiel asked quietly. He rolled his head to look at Dean. “We’ll save him. I promise you.”

Dean responded with a gusty sigh and folded his hands over his chest. “I know. We’ll do everything. We’ll make it happen. It’s just…”

“Obstacles,” Castiel agreed. “I know.”

“We’ve got some shitty odds.”

Castiel sighed. “Dean, there’s still time to--”

“Don’t,” Dean’s eyes shone in the darkness. “Don’t start. Any time any of us ends up doing something alone, we get screwed in the deal. If you think I’m gonna let you out of my sight...”

“I know, but I don’t want you to die,” Castiel said in a sudden, rushing burst. “What we are about to do - storm Heaven - is something no mortal has ever done. If you get caught up there you’ll die, but you won’t have the reapers as intermediaries to escort you to the safety of your own Heaven. I…worry. I worry that if the angels capture you in your human form they will torture you, perhaps endlessly. The pain they can inflict when your soul is trapped in your body? It could rival what you experienced in Hell. Heaven has intense generative powers. It has the engine of creation behind it. That makes it a mighty sword and a terrible curse.”

Dean looked at Castiel for a long time, his soul shadowed and blurred by alcohol. “You’re really worried about this.”

“Dean, you have no idea the peril you and Sam face by walking into the power of Heaven as an unshielded mortal. I fear for you. No human should walk the veil and survive.”

Dean raised his hand and wrapped his fingers around Castiel’s cheek, caressing the soft skin beneath his ear with the tip of one finger. Castiel’s eyes flicked down at his outstretched arm in surprise. They were very close now. Dean’s fingers felt warm against the cool evening air. Castiel’s skin prickled under Dean’s thumb strokes. “Nothing’s gonna happen, Cas,” Dean said softly. “I promise. We’re gonna be so, so careful.”

Castiel shook his head. “Dean, I—“

And in the space between one breath and another, Dean leaned in and pressed his lips against Castiel’s. His breath was warm and his lips soft and Castiel gasped against them. He responded without thought, his mouth moving to curve against Dean’s own. Dean moaned at the response, his eyes closed tight, and pressed into Castiel harder. Castiel gasped and pulled back, setting a hand on Dean’s chest as though to hold him at bay. “Dean, you don’t want this. You’re drunk.”

Dean’s breath punched out of him. His pupils were blown wide and his lips were still parted from the kiss. “Oh yeah?” he said quietly. “Scrub the alcohol out.” He pressed into Castiel’s space and brushed his nose lightly with the tip of his so that his breath ghosted over Castiel. He slid one hand onto Castiel’s waist and tightened his fingers, just slightly, into his coat. Castiel shivered. “I dare you,” Dean whispered.

Castiel raised his hand into the fragile space between them and pressed his fingers against Dean’s stubbled cheek. He willed his grace into Dean, sweeping its cool energy into his skin and under it where it raced through his blood. Dean closed his eyes at the intrusion and a sigh escaped his lips. He pillowed his head on Castiel’s hand, by all appearances utterly content. When Castiel withdrew his grace, Dean slowly opened his eyes again. This time his gaze seemed steadier, more solid. He licked his lips and his eyes flicked down along Castiel and back up again.

“There’s more than one way to be drunk, Cas,” Dean whispered. “You can’t cure me of everything.” And he leaned in again.

Dean’s lips moved confidently against Castiel, strong and soft and sweet. Castiel felt himself sinking into it, wanting to melt into Dean. He’d longed for him for such a long time. Dean, that glowing soul, that complex tangle of sweetness and pain.

Eventually Dean pulled away, one hand lifted between them. “We should get back,” he said, voice rough and low. “Help Sam with research.”

“I—” Castiel said, still leaning forward, chin tilted from their kiss.

Dean pulled away. “Come on,” he said before rolling off of the car. He shot Castiel an unreadable look: wide-eyed and strange, then he opened his door and got into the Impala. Castiel slowly followed, one finger tracing his lips and trying to figure out what had happened. And what should come next.

In the car on the drive back, Castiel began to get a sense of what might come next. And what would come was a great, snarling _nothing_. After their kiss Dean had pulled away in every way possible and disappeared behind the wheel. Castiel had at first spent the ride back to the bunker in silent wonder, too wrapped up in his own confusion and elation to notice Dean’s retreat into silence. But the absence of conversation slowly began to gnaw at Castiel. Dean stared at the road, his hands unusually hooked at ten and two on the wheel, music filling the air. Wasn’t there supposed to be touching? Kind words? The brush of fingers in between them? He wanted all of these desperately, but they were so incredibly foreign now that he was faced with the prospect of them becoming something real he could share with Dean. _Dean_. He felt utterly at sea.

When they parked in the bunker’s garage it became increasingly obvious that this silence wasn’t a good, comfortable one borne out of years of companionship. Dean turned off the car and settled back in his seat, glancing at Castiel but not meeting his eyes. “We better get inside. I gotta try to get a few hours of sleep before the morning.”

Castiel opened his mouth, wanting to ask what was wrong, because there was obviously something that had soured between their kiss and the bunker. Still, whatever had changed between them - if something had changed - felt fragile and fresh and Castiel decided not to ask Dean about it. Humans needed to sleep, despite Dean’s frequent boasts to the contrary. So Castiel let Dean walk away into the depths of the bunker while he walked more slowly to the library. Sam, true to his word, had retired to bed and there were still a handful of hours to wait until it was time to drive to the gateway to Heaven. Castiel spent the time thumbing through old books and wondering about Dean’s kiss, his fingers dancing along his lips. Remembering.

He felt swamped with emotion, desire and joy warring with fear that Dean would come to him later and tell him it was all a mistake. He’d been in love with Dean for years, though he hadn’t understood it entirely until he’d been briefly human. Then, his love had hit him with all the force of a hurricane. Now, it seemed more of a settled fact. The sky was blue and he was in love with Dean. He’d never expected his feeling to be reciprocated. Castiel pressed his fingers to his lips again and wondered if his feelings were returned, or if the kiss was born out of the heat of the moment, a fleeting thing quickly forgotten.

* * *

The next morning dawned clear and they drove up to the playground where the portal to Heaven still lay. These days, nobody guarded it on either end; the wars between Heaven, Hell, and Earth had grown quiet.

Dean rapped the steering wheel with his knuckles. Sam had already left the car, his arms full of spell ingredients they would use to protect them from the portal. Dean swiveled towards Castiel. “Cas. Can we talk?” He looked beyond Castiel and bit his lip. “Shit. Sam’s coming back for the rest. Uh. Can we talk outside?”

“Of course, Dean.” Castiel got out of the car and led the way to the small playground. He settled on a low plastic stepping stone and Dean did the same. Dean rested his arms on his knees, laced his fingers together, and looked at Castiel. He looked calm and collected, though the creases in the corners of his eyes betrayed the weight that lay between them.

“Uh,” Dean said, unsure where to start. “About last night. I don’t know how you, ah, feel about…everything. I know we gotta talk.” Words failed him then and silence dragged on between them.

Castiel was silent for several minutes before he inhaled quietly and said, “By now you must know I love you.”

Dean dropped his gaze. Heat rushed along the entire length of his body and his mouth worked for a moment before sound came out. “Cas.”

“Dean,” Castiel replied, his tone teetering between exasperation and sorrow. “I’ve told you as much.”

“Yeah, when you were dying. Everyone knows that doesn’t count.”

Castiel’s scoffing laugh drew Dean’s gaze, his ears hot with shame. He knew he should be able to just reach in and untangle the knot of emotions that swirled in his chest like serpents. He should, but he couldn’t. He didn’t have the faintest idea of where to start. “I don’t know,” Dean said eventually, flinching at the pinched look he got in return.

“Don’t know what?’

“What this is. What to say. What do you want me to say?”

Castiel settled his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. Deep circles shadowed his eyes and he looked suddenly older than his vessel. _The thousand yard stare of an angel_ , Dean thought, and hated himself for thinking it.

“What do you want to say?” Castiel asked, his thumb slowly rubbing along the palm of his other hand, recalling, perhaps where they had touched last night.

“I don’t know, Cas. You’re asking me for something and I-- I don’t know that I’ve got it to give. I wish--” Dean sighed and looked down at his own hands. His fingers were trembling and he locked them together tight. “I wish my life was easier. Something straightforward. Like outta a movie or book. Instead I just feel like I’m always looking through an endless wall of crap. Living one crisis to another. I got no time to figure out me much less-- Much less you. Or us. I don’t know what to say. How to feel. Hell, half the time I’m trying to figure out how I’m gonna live to see another week.”

“I see.” Castiel drew back, sliding his hands up his thighs as though preparing to push up and leave.

“Cas,” Dean said wincing at the desperate undertones. “Just...just give me some time, okay? After we get Bobby free I’ll figure this out.” He grabbed for Castiel’s hands, hating the thrill taking hold of them gave him when Castiel’s expression was still so sad. “Please. Just let me figure it out, okay? Don’t--” Dean squeezed Castiel’s palms in his own, aware that he was pressing sweat into Castiel’s skin, and tried to offer up a weak half smile. “Don’t give up on me yet, okay?”

Castiel nodded slowly. “I can wait,” he said, “a little longer.”

They made their way to Sam, discomfort palatable between them. Silently, Dean helped Sam set up the spell around the sandbox. He lit the final match and dropped it to the ground. The Enochian seal on the sandbox glowed sun-bright and Dean threw up a hand to shield his eyes as the portal flared to life.

Castiel wrapped his grace into Sam and Dean, bolstered by the spell controlling the portal. Dean staggered at the sudden pulse of grace that seemed to catch him and hold him, fish hook sharp. On Castiel’s other side, Sam grunted as well, doubling over slightly at the punch of the magic. “Are you both alright?” Castiel asked.

“Fine, Cas.” Dean said with a small grunt. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Castiel raised his hand over the portal and light swirled from its base, illuminating the sandbox in a column of sunshine so bright even Castiel had to squint against it. He set his hands on their arms and together they stepped through the portal.

On the other side it was quiet. Empty white hallways stretched to either side. With Castiel’s grace wrapped in and around the Winchesters, alarms wouldn’t sound for intruders, though the entrance of an angel from Earth would be marked and followed up on. He tugged his grace from Dean and Sam. Now that they were past the veil, they had no need for his protection. “We’ve got to move,” Castiel said, ushering them down the corridor. “Bobby’s Heaven is quite a distance from the portal and I don’t know how long we have until--”

Alarms began to sound. Castiel growled in frustration. “I see someone’s keeping a closer watch than I’d hoped,” he said and then his legs buckled beneath him and he collapsed onto the floor.

“Cas!” Dean bent over Castiel, pulling him up to face him. Castiel had his eyes screwed shut as though he were in intense pain. “You gotta talk to me, buddy. What’s going on?”

Castiel replied through gritted teeth. “Angel radio. They’re saying… ‘She is here? She has breached the wall?’”

“What do you mean by ‘she is here’?” Castiel groaned and shook his head, his fingers digging into his temples. “Where can we go where you can be safe? You gotta talk to us, man.”

Castiel shook his head and slowly said, “I’m...fine, Dean. We should keep going.”

Dean and Sam exchanged worried looks and Castiel shook his head more firmly. His stubborn scowl dug into Dean. “I’m fine. Let’s keep--” Claxons began to wail and Sam raised his angel blade warily while Castiel clutched his temple. This time he did nothing to stop blood from draining out of his face. He looked up and met Dean’s eyes, his own wide with worry. “They know I’m here. Quick, you must go. Bobby’s Heaven is that way. Run until you see the ‘Bobby Singers’ on the door. His is the twelfth on the left.”

“Cas, aren’t you coming?” Dean tried to grab for Castiel’s coat sleeve but Castiel stepped out of reach, down the corridor.

“They’re locked onto my grace. You’re going to be harder to find if you just keep moving. So. Move!” Castiel began to swivel, shoulders swiveling towards the opposite end of Heaven. “I’ll distract them. You get to Bobby’s Heaven and do the spell. I’ll catch up with you there.”

“What are you going to do, Cas?” Sam asked, worry lining his eyes.

Castiel gritted his teeth and his angel blade slide from his sleeve. “Distract them,” he said, and began to run.

“Cas!” Dean yelled fruitlessly. He was right, of course. If the angels were on to him, he needed to be mobile and unfettered by Dean and Sam. And if they were going to be captured, they ought to damn well try to get Bobby free before it happened. He let Sam pull him down the corridor and soon they were both racing full tilt towards the Bobby Singers.

When they found the door, Sam threw it open. He seemed to push through the doorway like pressing through a soap bubble. The corridor and doorway wobbled fluidly as his body passed through it. Dean took a deep breath and plunged inside after Sam.

The door slammed shut behind Dean and he sagged against it for a moment, desperately trying to catch his breath. “Cas,” he managed finally. “You think he’s--”

Sam shot him an odd look. “Cas’ll be fine, Dean. Help me with this.” Sam was already busy clearing off a space on Bobby’s living room end table. “Here, set Bobby’s book on here.”

Dean blinked and shuddered once, taking one more second to imagine the fate that might befall Castiel if he were to get caught. He might be imprisoned, or killed, and there would be no way Dean could get to him then. The thought of Castiel playing roadrunner with a couple angels made him feel sick, lightheaded with panic. He took a swift pull of breath and let it stretch into his strained lungs. And then he pulled himself together and reached into his jacket pocket for the object of Bobby’s that he’d kept for years, moving it from Baby to its treasured home in the bunker.

It was a small blue book, clothbound and worn with age and use. Dean had borrowed it from Bobby’s cabin after they’d burned his flask. At the time, he’d told himself he just needed something other than skin mags to read on a hunt, but now he kept it in his bedside table in the bunker. It was more than just a book. He set it on the table and smoothed the faded gold-embossed letters on its front. _The Tempest_ gleamed up at him, lit by the soft glow of sunrise in Bobby’s heaven.

Sam took out a piece of chalk and carefully began to detail the rune markings around the book. When he did the last little curlicued scrawl the glyph began to glow with a hot, white light reminiscent of the portal to Heaven. “You ready?” he asked Dean, leaning away from the pale heat burning around the table.

“Yeah,” Dean nodded. He began to chant the incantation, carefully enunciating where the _animus lux_ spell broke off and the summoning spell took over. His bones filled with a wild buzzing. The room filled with an electrical static sound that swelled so loud that he couldn’t hear Sam chanting anymore, nor could he hear himself. A wind whipped up, curling around the room in a frantic circle, tugging their clothing around.

Blue light swirled up from the book on the table like a serpent coiling, preparing to strike. It shot into the air and arced around the ceiling and then out of Bobby’s heaven. Dean felt the spell tug at him through his gut. It spidered through his core and anchored itself in the room around them. He threw his head back and struggled for breath and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sam doing the same. _I couldn’t move even if I wanted to,_ he thought, swaying on feet turned into stone blocks. Part of him felt stretched out, like a rainbow arcing through Heaven, or a hand ready to pluck Bobby free like an apple from a tree. Fog began to fill the room and the noise in the air took on the vague aura of a pulsing heartbeat. And then he heard a grumble as clear as if it had been uttered in his own ear.

“Idjits.”

Dean strained to peer through the gloom, still high on the spell, and his expression warred with a loopy smile as he said, “Bobby? That you? Did we get you?” His tongue felt heavy and his question slurred.

There was a silence and then, “Dean?” Bobby’s voice sounded incredulous and just the same as ever. “Sam?”

“Bobby,” Dean gasped, closing his eyes to better concentrate on his voice. “We’re busting you out of prison. You just follow the sound of my voice, okay? Work your way back.”

Bobby chuckled and it was as warm and familiar as anything. It rolled like sunlight through the fog of the spell. “Been working on my own escape plan,” he said. “But I appreciate it all the same. We’re headin’ for ya, boys. You wouldn’t believe--”

The heartbeat thud of sound increased suddenly and dramatically until the steady _thump thump thump_ became something else. The sound became the wind buffeting his ears and the pulse of a failing airplane engine high up in the sky. Dean opened his eyes to find the fog had lifted. He stood on an island and up above him the fog had collected itself into a thick black thunderhead arching above like a striking cobra. Dean opened his mouth in surprise and then rain hit his face in a sheet of stinging drops, and he collapsed on the shore.


	3. Act I Scene II

**ACT I**

**SCENE II**

**__** _(A gutted airplane rests in the sand. Seats and twisted metal pipes litter the ground and lush greenery grows up around it with bright flowers blooming and adding gregarious splashes of color everywhere. There's a wooden house just beyond the plane wreckage. It's spacious with wide, open windows and a beautiful deck wrapping around it, looking out over the wreckage. Everything seems a little too perfect, idyllic, as though crafted with...magic.)_

DEAN

Dear Uncle. How the angry wind rages

as though all the hosts of heaven charge past.

Clouds swell like demon fog. I fear for souls

who are stuck fast in its chilly embrace.

Woe to all who travel through this noontime night.

A howling engine shrieks from its belly

and fills me with terrible fear.

SAM

Oh, perilous sky!

BOBBY

All is well, sons. Those who ride this storm out

shall not perish, but instead wake safely

nestled feather soft on our own warm sand.

There's no harm done.

_(an airplane engine whines overhead)_

DEAN

By the careworn son of a female cur,

there a plane imperiled flails in the air.

If in thy power you may save them, or else

curtail the storm...

BOBBY

Settle, settle.

Worry not. My care to thee extends out

to those batted about by this sea squall.

I have not raised this gale, yet I’ll defend

All those trapped within it.

Ah, my boys. All I have achieved in life

be grander than thou knowest or may dream.

I am master of power greater

than the most outsized imaginations.

I have been o’er the years a wizened oak

shelt’ring thee from peril; my roots extend

farther and wider than thou may fathom.

SAM

Truly, Uncle, we knew not that there was more.

DEAN

Thy loves are as numerous as the stars,

but none more so than thy trove of learning.

Thy books color o'er every plank of our home,

set my heart to dreaming, taught me language.

These seem enough for the most ambitious.

Yet if you say you have greater power

we must believe it.

BOBBY

The hour is arrived. Fate falls on our shore

and now I must tell thee of my long life

before this quiet cove, and how we came

to live upon this lonely island.

_(Sets his hand on his cap)_

This worn and wond'rous cap has served well,

held all my power, capped my magehood tight

but now it is time to lay it aside.

I have another role to play.

_(Lays down his hat)_

Lie there, my art.

Now, wipe at thy tears and take great comfort.

The airplane rests. No soul has died today.

DEAN

Oft thy lips will slip word of a secret,

A tale behind thy crook'd and bent smile,

thy knowing eyes. In thy good time we've learned well.

But never how came we here to this beach,

we are left to bootless inquisition.

SAM

It pulls at us. Like roped scrod we lie flopped

mouths gaping, words slipping past in bubbles

yet unvoiced.

BOBBY

Well. The hour has now come. Pay attention.

Rememberest now when thou first arrived?

DEAN

I remember but a little, dear Uncle.

I was just a child, barely to thy knee.

BOBBY

Rememberest thou?

SAM

I remember naught.

DEAN

Brother you shat in cloth and wailed nightlong

for milk, rest, for each digit on thy hand.

Thy head too large, thy neck a drought limp reed,

a cloud of sorrow wrap'd in a blanket.

Whereas I recall sunshine through windows.

A kitchen groaned with food. And my mother.

BOBBY

You had more family than just this soul.

Pray, what else dost thou recall?

DEAN

Truly nothing. A blank and buzzed silence,

the whir of insects on a storm-blacked night.

BOBBY

Before I was thine uncle and king here

I was known as the great Duke of Milan.

Thousands did look to me seeking succor.

The power I held was magnificent,

far beyond the man thou sees before thee.

'Tis almost a dream to myself.

SAM

Are not thou my uncle?

DEAN

And as like to a father as I have known.

BOBBY

My boys. My boys. Thy father and mother

perish'd one dark night and thou became heirs,

then and now my blood and owners of all.

My wealth, my subjects, my loyal command.

DEAN

But how did we fall from such lofty height?

What agony!

SAM

Or blessed was't we did?

BOBBY

Blessing. Curse. I know not. I thinkest a curse.

Foul play, as thou might guess, spun us adrift,

ousted from my throne by one I'd called friend.

DEAN

I'm a-gashed, sliced to ribbons in sorrow.

Aye, aye, this tale 'tis a misery true.

Only steer me towards the vile usurper.

I shall bring a blade.

BOBBY

Bela Talbot, vile seeker of my wealth

and power, was once counted among friends.

I was powerful but, la, devoted.

My books held sway, and the myst'ries within.

Bela tutted over mundane affairs,

held closely my state and signatories.

She took on duties I sought to throw off,

yokes, I'd wagered, of unnec'ssary weight.

And so she took on the duties while I,

King of the dusty page, allowed the snake

to slither past, push me from the garden.

While I read, an army of petalweights

reassigned my home stone by mossy stone.

Dost thou heed me?

SAM

Most dutifully.

BOBBY

Once suits were granted legal paperwork

grew into an invidious army,

intent on smothering all save Bela.

Bela, that thief, that rusty corruption,

stole my position, my life's very frame,

and corrupted it. Dost thou attendest?

DEAN

Oh, I do. Though my eyes burn with distress.

BOBBY

Mark. I bettered my mind, explored the world.

But in doing so Bela broke my trust.

My lordship. My wealth. My power all lost.

Crushed swiftly, a fragile moth underfoot.

She became respected Duke in my stead,

and with the blessing of noble women.

Her ambition grew the more she controlled.

Dost thou hear?

DEAN

Your story would cure deafness.

BOBBY

She took my dukedome. Oh my poor people.

SAM

Oh heavens!

DEAN

You have been ill used then.

A more noble gentleman I've not known,

nor could imagine. Did no-one protest?

BOBBY

The queen of Naples, being an enemy

Unknown then paid her heed to Bela's suit.

So I was out with naught but my children

overnight with all honors wrenched from me.

One midnight, fated to the dark purpose,

Bela op'ed the gates of slumber'd Milan

in the dead darkness, did hurry us thence.

SAM

Alack! I, not rememb'ring how I cried,

will cry o'er it again.

DEAN

I remember that night.

The fire's climbing teeth as we were driven

from our own rooms by malicious eyed men.

BOBBY

I'm sorry to hear you remember well.

Listen further and we'll soon catch up to

present times.

DEAN

Ash and spark. Those memories haunt my soul.

Yet we survived it for kindness I trow

or we should be dead at their hands instead.

BOBBY

They darest not for we were beloved,

held tenderly up amongst our people.

Those scraping devils hurried us towards

the midnight plane and our distant exile,

barreled through the sky with two squalling babes

and naught but the thumping of mine own heart,

the whine of the engines, a gun's still snick,

charcoal spires snuffing out any hope's spark.

Thus we were landed on this lonely isle,

dropp'd to live the stretch of our lives alone.

The sea growls and we cry back at it.

But human voices we've heard not a one.

In this home we have remained ever since.

SAM

What trouble was I to you then!

DEAN

You mean me. Caretaker I was to you.

Father and as good mother as aught else.

BOBBY

Those were dark times but both sons brought me light.

Thou did preserve me.

DEAN

How came we ashore? Oh, how I shudder

to think we may have fallen from the sky.

BOBBY

Our captors came in two planes, leaving one

but removing the water blades. Thus, with

useless ship and storms blooming o'er the sea

we made our home in its metal shell 'til

this cabin we built. Here we take our rest.

Yet someone loved us still and we were gi'en

gifts of food and cloth enough to last us

through the evening of our lives. Yet I would

live a thousand lives to see thee escape.

This island's close quarters is less deserved

by my sons.

My books, as thou knowest, are my solace.

My dear Rufus caused them to be loaded

and brought hence to raise our minds and spirits.

I prize these volumes above my Dukedom.

DEAN

Would I would see that man, I would thank him.

BOBBY

Now sit and hear the last of our sorrow.

Thou hast profited more by my teaching

than boys with more time for vainer pursuits.

SAM

Heaven thank thee for it! I pray thee, sir,

why hast thou revisited this story?

BOBBY

Mine enemies - those who tore us from home

and spun us across the sea to this shore

are here, arrived on a struggling craft.

But no more. Thou are inclined to sleep now.

'Tis a good dullness. Give in, I knowest

thou cannot choose.

_(Dean and Sam sleep)_

Come to me, servant, come. I am ready.

Approach my Gabriel, come.

_(enter Gabriel)_

GABRIEL

Hail good Master! What be thy pleasure?

Shall I conjure a plate of treacly sweets,

or a trap to bedevil wily beasts?

Dost thou need cloud or sun or the soft shape

of a flower for thy spells? Tell me, sir,

what's thy pleasure? Gabriel will answer.

BOBBY

Ah, wily spirit. Hast thou stirred the storm?

GABRIEL

As thou directed, with alacrity.

I crept into the hatch and stirred fingers

through the electrical puddles set out

before their eyes, brought static and dismay.

I breath'd upon the console so it froze

under the pilot's frantic fumble fingers.

I then led the airship's systems towards

this quiet isle and it followed hence

like a duckling to a spring.

BOBBY

My brave spirit!

Oh, who could resist your machinations?

GABRIEL

Not a soul. Each felt a madman's fever

as desperation in their rocketing

ship reached its peak and there was I waiting,

whispering in their ears, appearing halfway.

Now, a maiden's guise. Now, a fierce monster.

The Queen's son rose once, with hair upstanding,

the first to leap, colored in bright alarm

and cried out in anguish, 'Hell is empty

and all the devils are here.'

BOBBY

That's my spirit.

On which sanded shore did our guests arrive?

GABRIEL

Close by here, my master. Two coves over.

BOBBY

And are they safe aground?

GABRIEL

Not a hair perish'd on those precious heads.

The Queen's son and swordsman I've landed

as birds in a feathered nest south of here.

There they sit alone, aught but each other,

cooling the air with their sorrowful sighs.

BOBBY

Gabriel, thy acts are good as my charge.

But there's more work to be done. What's the time?

GABRIEL

Past noon.

BOBBY

Already the day spins past. We must spend

our time wisely.

GABRIEL

Is there more toil? Remember what thou

hast promised, which is not yet perform'd me.

BOBBY

Out with it, spirit! What is thy demand?

Cease slipping it to the corners of thy mouth.

GABRIEL

My liberty.

BOBBY

Ghost of the isle, I swear't. Thou shalt know thy

freedom once this work ceases. Have a care.

Patience becomes the hoariest trickster.

GABRIEL

Remember I've done thee worthy service.

Told thee no lies, made thee no mistaking,

served without grudge or grumblings; thou promised

my freedom!

BOBBY

Dost thou forget what torment I freed thee?

GABRIEL

I do not.

BOBBY

Hast thou forgot the foul witch who trapped thee?

GABRIEL

No, no.

BOBBY

Thou wast trapped in a cage of fire and ice,

hopelessly abandoned by thy brethren,

left for dead, thy essence but a howl.

Then I arrived, pulled thee free from thy bonds.

My hand freed thee, spirit. Does thou forget?

Were it not for me Crowley would be thy

only companion. Crowley, island king.

Faugh. King of nothing, for all he may wish.

King only of green tree, sweet fruit and air.

As thou was trapped, did Crowley free thee?

GABRIEL

Nay. Crowley is the lowest worm, 'tis true.

I am glad of thy presence.

BOBBY

Thou know't what torment I did find thee in.

Thy groans made ghouls howl, could they split

the breast of the mightiest werewolf.

Yet it was mine art, when I arrived

that made the stone gape wide and let thee out.

GABRIEL

I thank thee, master. I'll serve thee well for't.

BOBBY

Then do so, and soon I will discharge thee.

GABRIEL

My arms are not my own. What shall I do?

BOBBY

Go hence in disguise, fly among our guests.

Bring word of them to me.

_(exit Gabriel)_

Awake sons. Stir and meet the afternoon.

DEAN

The strangeness of thy story laid heavy.

I slept and dreamed of a man, dear uncle,

with eyes as blue as the sea and wings

along his back which swept to the clouds,

their tips tickling treetops. I dreamed him

as though I knew him. What a bright vision.

BOBBY

Shake it off, my son. Shake it off, my boys.

The time arrives to call upon Crowley.

SAM

'Tis a villain, sir, and I do not love to look upon him.

BOBBY

Yet he has his uses, e'en to scrub floors

or fetch wood. Hell's pup is at our pleasure.

Ho, Crowley! Speak! Fetch our ale from the stream.

CROWLEY

_(from within the cabin)_

There's ale enough within.

BOBBY

Hasten thyself! I have further business.

_(enter GABRIEL dressed like a greeting card cupid)_

Our words ride the wind, my lips to your ear.

Show me those newly arrived. Bring forth the prince.

GABRIEL

My lord it shall be done.

_(exit GABRIEL)_

BOBBY

Come forth, cur!

CROWLEY

Hello, boys. May pox turn thy blood and bone

to black ooze. May thy sacks fall from betwixt

thy legs and fire join thy loins. I pray now

for dreadful accident to befall thee.

BOBBY

For this, may ev'ry breath of air become as smoke.

Thou miserable cur.

CROWLEY

This island is mine, thou flannel clad fools.

When thou first arrived on this fair isle,

once my sole domain, I then aided thee.

I showed thee what water was sweet to drink,

what plants might sustain thee. I cared for thee

with nothing signed, an agreement to aid

writ in our words and deeds. By my soul

thou instead bound me while thy progeny

parade upon my isle like proud hencocks.

BOBBY

Though liest. Thou didst seek to violate

the honor of my child! My belov'd Dean.

DEAN

Thou plied me with liquor and swayed with song,

and promised the sweetest things, whispered close.

'Twas never for me, scurrilous ant

and thou shall not marry back thy kingship.

'Tis not mine to give away.

BOBBY

Get off, beast, and fetch our liquor quickly.

Or thou shall clean the floor with lapping tongue.

CROWLEY

_(aside)_

I must obey: his art is powerful,

it would lasso the strongest archangel.

_(exit CROWLEY)_

_(enter GABRIEL, invisible and singing, and CASTIEL and EILEEN following as they approach the cabin)_

GABRIEL

_(Singing)_

Come unto these yellow sands

Undress them with willing hands

An arrow struck thee in th’face

A most uncomfort’ble place

Matters not if breast or dicks

Trap thee with these little tricks

Come together if ye may

A-matchmaking I go today.

Beware Cupid, too-rah too-ray!

CASTIEL

_(speaking and signing)_

Wherefore this music? Is't the sea's whisper

Or the somnolent sound of curling leaves?

Is't some god o' the island, sitting near

and weeping o'er my mother, the queen's wreck?

Oh, my poor mother, swallowed by the sea.

EILEEN

_(speaking and signing)_

My poor master. Could I but stop thy tears.

GABRIEL

Oh, lost souls. How merry I shall make thee.

_(singing)_

Thy mother lies in coral’s bones

Tossed outward from the plane

The wind doth howl with her moans

And to this sandy shore complain

Ripped by hellhound, fiery air

She now adopts a vacant stare

Soaked in salt, Poseidon's keep

Sea nymphs mourn her in the deep

CASTIEL

The tune does remember my drown'd mother.

I hear it and it steals my very breath.

EILEEN

I hear not a thing, my lord, yet sorrow

shadows thy kind gaze like a living thing

telling stories of pain I can not know.

Sweet Castiel, if thou hearest a dirge

I beg thee to ignore it.

BOBBY

My boys, look hence. Say, what approaches us?

SAM

What is't? Two spirits? A sand swept mirage?

DEAN

Oh, they carry a brave form. Tis spirits.

Their hands move in a dance so beautiful,

they work a great spell to shape the world.

SAM

They speak of some sorrow...

BOBBY

Sharp eyes, thou hast, boy. There may be sorrow.

Yet they dream, and have such senses as we.

DEAN

_(completely fixated on CASTIEL)_

'Tis an angel, unmet outside of books.

BOBBY

Nay, they are no angels, no higher things.

Dropp'd from the belly of the foundering plane

and landed thus, alone, swallowed in grief.

They have lost their fellows.

DEAN

Oh, that I might call him a thing divine,

for nothing I e'er saw so noble be.

His soulful eyes, tousled hair, gentle frown,

the sorrows of the world hang upon him.

I would lift him to joy if permitted

and 'twould be a gift.

SAM

His companion smiles like sunshine itself.

Who might she be to possess such noble brow?

BOBBY

Get thee outside and past our boundaries.

Guide them to our home. You'll have thy answers.

CASTIEL

Sweet God, hear my prayer. Aid our desp'rate quest.

_(DEAN and SAM are revealed to CASTIEL and EILEEN)_

An apparition!

Art thou the origin of the honeyed song?

Oh, wonder. Dost thou come bearing succor?

Or has grief stirred my senses past bearing?

DEAN

I am no wonder. Thy sweet supposition

is yet beyond any I may deserve.

I am mortal and more ordinary

than any story thou may imagine.

It is thou who sips the gods' honeyed mead.

CASTIEL

My language! That I should find thee here!

For we hail from a far distant kingdom.

I am a prince of Naples, though unmoored.

And this, my guardswoman, e'er by my side.

We have lost our companions. My mother.

All fell to wracking ruin, plummeted

from the sky in fire and flame, crumpled wings

failing us all. So perhaps I'm not prince

but become King, though far from my land.

DEAN

Alack, what peril thou hast seen!

BOBBY

A word, good sir. Thy intent is clouded.

A word.

DEAN

Why speaketh my uncle so ungently?

For I am fast besotted already.

Uncle, serve me well and be kind to them.

Pray, mistress, lower thy sword.

EILEEN

State thy intent.

CASTIEL

Nay, nay, friend. Lower thy sword. Oh, sweet man.

I'll lay my crown at thy feet in a breath.

BOBBY

Do not be so quick to trust them, my sons.

Tell me, knave, dost thou arrive on this isle

to take it for thyself, seeking kingship here?

CASTIEL

No, as I am a man!

BOBBY

Nay, I cannot trust thee. Follow me hence.

I'll tie thee together like vegetables,

store thee in my cellar until tested

with salt, blessed water, and silver pressed close.

Until then, thy food shall be salt and ash.

CASTIEL

My guard as well? Prithee, grant her freedom.

BOBBY

I have no quarrel with thy swordswoman.

She may stay or leave this place as she please.

EILEEN

Nay, I trow that I shan't leave Castiel.

As long as breath swells my breast, I'm loyal.

BOBBY

Loyalty suits thee well. Then, bring thy guard.

Divest her of her weaponry, my son.

SAM

I only keep this for thee for a time.

DEAN

Uncle,

There's nothing ill can dwell in such a temple.

I would swear he was an angel on earth,

were he not standing before me solid,

with beating heart and clear eye. I trust him.

SAM

I shall vouchsafe his guardswoman. Lady,

I will swear on my life to protect thee.

CASTIEL

Pray, calm. We shall go with thee and not fight.

DEAN

Uncle, make not too rash a crush of him.

He is gentle. I know it.

BOBBY

Gentle? He walks with a warrior's gait.

There's fire behind him you'd ought to 'ware.

DEAN

Uncle, I pray...

BOBBY

Block not my way, boy. You think you've seen it.

Thou givest thy trust in a single blink,

no pause between first sight and thy whole hopes.

There is no space in this world for unearned

loyalty. Thou gives like rice to beggars.

These interlopers may seize all we've stored,

leave us bleeding in the sand.

DEAN

Please. I'll be his surety.

SAM

And I, hers.

BOBBY

Think thou knows the shape of a goodly man?

Thou hast seen aught but thy brother, myself,

and the worm Crowley. Foolish boy, to jump

And think this an angel, devils unknown.

DEAN

My affections are then surely humble.

I've no desire to see a better man.

For in his kind eyes I am anchored tight.

I've tumbled in as a rock to the sea

sunk forever, and happier for it.

CASTIEL

My spirits, as in a dream, are bound up.

My mother's loss, our flight downed like a bird

ailing on the wing. My family's gone now

and myself a lodestone bearing all down.

Yet should I be an anchor, I'm glad here.

I'm in a prison of my own making

but gladly jailed under thy watchful gaze.

BOBBY

Thou mayest try thy hands at bailiff.

_(to GABRIEL, invisible)_

Let us go then. Hark what else thou must do.

DEAN

Be of comfort. He's of better nature

than he appears by speech.

BOBBY

_(to GABRIEL)_

Thou shalt have thy freedom. But heed my words.

GABRIEL

To the syllable.

BOBBY

_(to CASTIEL and EILEEN)_

Come, follow. Offer up thy sword now, guard.

SAM

_(speaking and signing)_

I shall look after't with all my honor.

Come, maiden. Be at peace and rest with me.

While my brother and thy master swallow

words with the power of their gaze, so be't

with us.

EILEEN

Thou speaks with hand and tongue. A miracle!

SAM

My uncle's library is vast. Time's spent

on study as much as any pursuit.

I knew not that it would prepare me

to meet thee here but I am truly glad.

EILEEN

Joy colors my words. My hands shake with't.

Also,

I’ve never seen my lord silent 'til now.

SAM

Nor I my brother without a joke

or a jay's line slung carelessly about.

Come, let us leave them to their mute contest.

CASTIEL

Oh, sweet golden dream, thou art perfection.

My lips lose words. I shall call thee angel.

DEAN

Nay, only a man. Come, let us away.

CASTIEL

Of course, Dean.


	4. Act II Scene I

**ACT II**

**SCENE I**

**__** _(Two coves over from Bobby's cabin. The cove is full of greenery, the most perfect, idealized vision of a tropical island. Our stranded players are stretched on soft, pale sand under the gentle shade of palms. Flowers bloom all around in a riot of color and nearby can be heard the trickling of a sweet, fresh stream feeding from the tallest peak into the sea.)_

RUFUS

Be merry, all. Thy breath pulls in and out.

'Tis more than we might dream after our fall.

ELLEN

Prithee, peace.

BELA

She receives comfort like squawked pullet.

It pulls at my patience like a sore tooth.

MEG

She does carry on as though 'twere her job

instead of ruling we shall weep, tear hair.

And this relentless storm of sunny words

would saw even the softest wood.

BELA

Look on as he winds up his winsome smile

only to ply't upon sun-soaked turtles.

At least their audience is attentive.

RUFUS

Ma'am...

BELA

One moment. The song begins its reprise.

RUFUS

There is a hoary moment when grief strikes.

BELA

Oh, la. Listen to this maundering fool.

MEG

Did we swim to safety for this? Listen.

Here's my guess for his next holy sermon.

Fear nothing but fear. Eat, drink, be merry.

RUFUS

Yet let us count our blessings on this shore.

For once my wife traveled south by my side.

We stayed by the sea on sand sweet as this.

BELA

Sweet words twist me. Condemn me first to fire.

I cannot suffer further.

MEG

Mayhaps some vomit bags landed ashore.

RUFUS

And as it was a paradise, so's this.

Look the water is sweet!

MEG

And full of worm casings and beetle shell.

RUFUS

The air is pure.

BELA

And as like to choke us with blasted sand.

RUFUS

Jeweled fruits hang heavy from these boughs.

MEG

One bite's as like to poison as nourish.

CHARLIE

Indeed, the fruit is gentle on my tongue.

BELA

Thy easy tongue belays thy exper'ence.

MEG

A virginal tongue knowest not sweetness.

RUFUS

Yea, I could settle and live on this isle.

CHARLIE

And live as a person in a book might,

draped in vine and flower, sipp'd fairy mead

sending us alight into ecstasy.

MEG

'Tis not the isle that is fey.

RUFUS

Mark thee, my clothes are pressed clean and fresh,

salt drained and sweet, mended beyond miracle.

CHARLIE

A joyful omen, indeed.

ELLEN

Oh, what are these words? What speakest thou now?

I have lost all in this wreck. I am lost.

RUFUS

We speak of our clothing, my queen, as sharp

as when attended we thy child's wedding.

ELLEN

Oh, do not mention her marriage to me.

That dreadful catalyst which dropped us here.

My son is lost. Before that, my daughter

gi'en to the dragon queen across the sea.

The moment I handed her down the aisle

I knew I would not see her e'er again.

'Twas a terrible choice. One I'd undo.

MEG

Thy choices have affected us all,

left us soggy mounds on a distant shore.

RUFUS

Surely all is not lost. Queen Visyak is

monstrous to be sure, but her heart's bound up

in thy daughter's strings. Do not weep again.

CHARLIE

Further, my Queen, thy son may yet survive.

I swear I saw Castiel and his guard

spinning away through the air, their arms wound

'round each other and a vast parachute

bearing them safely across the clear coves.

ELLEN

He's gone. All I love seem to spin away.

BELA

Thank thyself for the loss of thy daughter

for she yet lives, though in a dragon's cold hands.

Her dreadful fate's still better than our own.

ELLEN

Prithee, peace. I am fully heart weary.

HANNAH

Oh, my queen. Rest thy head upon my breast.

I'll afford thee comfort where none else may.

BELA

'Tis thine own fault we're on this cursed isle.

Our tale is over. We may as well weep.

RUFUS

Stuff thy words away. Thou lack gentleness.

Come, let us casts our beds between these trees,

the stars, sweet companions for our slumber.

MEG

Ah, the only companions who might stay.

RUFUS

We shall live off the land then, fatted calves

under the moon's intoxicating sway

_(enter GABRIEL, invisible, playing music)_

CHARLIE

Oh, how my eyelids drag down to my feet.

I fear I cannot o'ercome this yawn.

HANNAH

I shall but rest my eyes.

_(CHARLIE and HANNAH fall asleep.)_

ELLEN

All asleep? I would rest if my thoughts could.

But I should stay awake. That role remains.

MEG

Rest, Queen.

BELA

We shall watch over thy somnolent self.

_(ELLEN sleeps)_

BELA

Sudden weariness does not confront me.

MEG

Nor myself, though I should need thicker sleep

after nearly losing my life today.

BELA

Fate draws the veil of slumber down on them.

Methinks we should speak. A plot quivers near.

MEG

What's there to discuss? There's no freedom found

from this flee bitten sand trap, save Death's kiss.

BELA

Knowest thou how I came to my station?

MEG

As the Duke of Milan? An honor conferred

But before I knew thee.

BELA

Yes, before. Knowest thou my beginning?

MEG

No.

BELA

Once I was but a woman, bottom rung

at the behest of the origin'l Duke.

I managed his affairs, moved the pieces,

a chess player, attacking from within.

He squandered his dukedom reading his books

so I stepped in, relieved him his burden.

The fine clothes I sport are from my actions.

The dukedom suits me, I benefit it.

MEG

My memories shaken, I recall now.

Thou won a kingdom for thy efforts.

But to stir it up, why dost thou bother?

We're far from thy dukedom, our livelihood

lost and we may ne'er again hold it close.

BELA

Nay, I hold faith in our timely rescue.

We are too valuable, assembled,

to miss or to never search. Listen, though.

There's more to my ascension which concerns thee.

MEG

I did not know.

BELA

Under nightfall I acted with cunning,

removed the rightful Duke and sent him off

into the blue unknown, taking his place.

Opportunity showed and I took't on.

Thou woul'st do well to follow my path.

MEG

Of what speakest thou? Talk plainly to me.

BELA

Here the queen lies abed, head pillowed soft

in a bed of flowers, insensible

to all else. Strapped to thy belt is thy sword.

MEG

Do I understand thee?

BELA

Seize thy opportunity, Queen's sister.

Thou makest thine own fate. Sad's the fellow

who will not seize what may better their lot.

MEG

I would take this blade and slice through my queen?

BELA

And get a kingdom from it.

_(enter GABRIEL, invisible)_

GABRIEL

This dangerous game wasn't dealt in the deck.

I'll secure thy safety, slumbering queen.

I shall sing a song to wake thee from dreams.

_(Singing)_

While thou snorest in the shade

A plot against a life is made

Shake off thy slumber listen well

I release thee from my sleepy spell

_(the sleepers awaken)_

ELLEN

Figh upon this rest. I yet feel ill used.

What now? What use have thee for thy raised sword?

MEG

'Tis a bear! Or a beast of the island.

It lumbered in the trees just beyond us.

I would defend thee with my sharpened blade.

BELA

A great white beast I glimpsed twixt the leaves.

Its snarling sneer chilled us to our center.

ELLEN

Well, then I thank thee. Now that we awake,

let us all sup and plan our departure.

CHARLIE

Methinks some odd trickery is afoot.

MEG

This sword shall win me a kingdom as well

or damn me to't.


	5. Act II Scene II

**ACT II**

**SCENE II**

**__** _(The forest on the island is thick with green growth. Tall trees wider than a man's arms suckle from the ground and flowers cascade like garlands into the shadowed depths. A waterfall roars in the jungle and fills a pool in a rocky hollow.)_

_(Enter CROWLEY with a bottle of liquor cradled in his arms.)_

CROWLEY

King Bobby of the Island. Displaced duke.

Ha! May as well be a duck for all he brings.

Had I the power to curse, I'd scour

him and his kind for their theft of my isle.

He doth loath me as much as uses me.

_(Thunder echoes over the sky, though the day is clear and bright. A storm looms on the horizon.)_

I am harassed to madness by spirits

pretending to be gods of clouded sky.

More like to a buzzed gnat than any god.

Here approaches a ghost. Ho, conjurement

What have thee? Cursed eye or armful of teeth?

What fearful beast wouldst thou press upon me?

_(enter KALI)_

KALI

I stagger to this shore, having bested

fate worse than a clearing of memory.

My feet upon the sand, sun drying skin,

all blessings brought on by mine own device.

That was no natural storm which ripped us,

tossed us from the air towards the rav'ning ground

I smell magic as surely as I press

my fingers to these stones. And still the sky

grumbles. Dost another storm approach me?

Alack, this sky seems set to ruin me.

_(Singing)_

Away to sea, away to the wave

Go dance with her and mateys be brave

She’ll dance on the water, stamp it on down

Lest every last one will sink quickly and drown

There’s a head in her hand bloodied and red

I’d rather be sailing then dying in bed

CROWLEY

Torment me not with thy song, maund'ring ghost.

KALI

What's this? A lump of a man? Or a beast?

Perhaps there are monsters on the island.

Come now, monster, look about. Clearly speak.

Nay, 'tis no beast. See his eye looks back clear.

He seems human shaped to me.

CROWLEY

Cease your cursed mutt'ring. What's thy business?

KALI

No spirit am I. Though seeking spirits

who carry the power of wind and sea

and have entrapped me, rootless in the sand.

I would unscrew them from the earth once found.

What dost thou carry, beast of the island?

CROWLEY

My master's brew.

KALI

I could make use of't. Wilt thou sit and drink?

CROWLEY

Well, this spirit's friendlier than I thought.

Aye, ghost. Let us drink. I'll tell thee my woes.


	6. Act III Scene I

**ACT III**

**SCENE I**

**__** _(Outside Bobby's cabin, amidst the wreckage. DEAN sits on the ruins of a business class airplane seat, eyes bright as he waits for CASTIEL)_

_(enter CASTIEL bearing logs)_

CASTIEL

The sun circles ‘round the globe, and I toil.

Bards sing sweetly the poetry of sweat,

of blood stung hands and the mortal aching

that arises from sun scalded flesh.

I should only wish to rest, save his smile.

For he is both sun and the forest’s shade.

Now, my shoulder bends for a single look!

My labors lightened, lifted in his eyes.

My master weeps a gentle rain. The soil

drinks his tears. My suffering is his own.

I may rejoice in’t if only to think

I have served him in any way.

There.

My love awaits in the blooming garden.

For all that his uncle’s gruff, his sweetly

gi’en glance ignites my trembling soul. I’d take

a thousand bloody tasks to then recline

in his cool, green shadow.

DEAN

Alas, now, prithee,

work not so hard. We needn’t fire nor fuel

in this golden world and knowing thou art

vexed by my uncle cuts knife sharp my heart.

Rest, Prince, while lore subsumes my uncle’s eye.

Come, settle beside me.

CASTIEL

The sun will set before my charge is done.

I dare not tarry.

DEAN

Nay, neither thy sweat nor burning muscle

meets my aims. Settle at my side and speak.

That is all the fuel I need.

Pray, let me bear thy burden. I’m rested.

Sit, sir, so thy strength may return anon.

CASTIEL

Should I speak I lose myself, anchored thus

in this paradise, so far from my home.

Yet ‘tis a glad loss, for I am richer

at thy side than from all gold or glory

in my grandest palace.

In the beginning was the Word spake large

echoing from the heavens down towards

the deepest pit which burns in the pale earth.

I once listened not. ‘Twas not of import.

Now, with thy touch its vibrations spring forth.

My fingers, my lips tremble with the song.

It sings behind thy smile...

DEAN

...And in the delicate arch of thy brow.

The turn of thy lip, the star in thine eye

speaks of kindness and power borne from loss.

I’d take that burden before a mere stick.

CASTIEL

Dear one, my power was lost e’er I arrived.

I drop’t all at thy feet, my crown and sword,

if such an offering I may make. 

DEAN

Any off’ring from thee is a blessing.

Yet, I should rise and do thy work for ‘tis

my own.

CASTIEL

I’d rather dash desperate upon the shore,

wracked ship on the rocks of thine uncle’s wrath

than to see thee pick the bones of the land

while I sit idly. Yet, he may o’erhear.

DEAN

Then, only keep by my side. The garden

shall hold our secrets close. We needn’t speak

so long as I may have you near.

CASTIEL

_(staring)_

We needn’t words.

DEAN

_(staring)_

No.

_(takes the wood from CASTIEL'S arms)_

Here. Let me help thee. I'll bear thy burden.

_(Thunder rumbles)_

We'll hurry with our task and shelter soon.

CASTIEL

Oh, what is this feeling which scrapes me out

leaves me raw and wild from this roaring blood.

Like a storm swipes the ocean's slate leaving

a changed world beneath it and so above.

Yet also a calm centers twixt my ribs

as though I've known thee for years and loved thee

and been through hells and sorrow together.

DEAN

And emerged as strong as a fireset blade?

Aye, this. I know not, yet I can't fathom

a world without thee in it. Sweet angel.

Say thou may stay and make me happiest

of any of god's creations.

CASTIEL

Heaven is with thee. Of course I will stay.

Truly, I know thee not, yet I love thee.

DEAN

Sweet words fall from thy lips like rich fruitfall.

I've known thee for a lifetime, met beyond

the trappings of our bodies, our joined hands

surely met in Heaven.

CASTIEL

Only Heaven's gate would be so fitting

a space for a soul as bright as thine own.

DEAN

What of our future, then?

CASTIEL

We shall grow old upon this quiet beach

in the seas's company, and each other.

I shall weave flowers into thy clothing

and our bed shall become an altar thick

with this land's fruited off'rings.

DEAN

You truly love me then?

CASTIEL

With all my heart.

DEAN

I'm a fool to weep at what I'm glad of.

CASTIEL

Why dost thou weep?

DEAN

My unworthiness stains thy hallow'd ground.

I daren't offer what I desire to give

much less that which I would take from thee, love.

What I shall die to want.

Shouldst thou stay thy life's over 'fore it begins.

Thou speaks it: thou art a prince set on high.

I shall die lest I keep thee from soaring

CASTIEL

But if I raise thee up to my side?

DEAN

My husband then?

CASTIEL

Aye, with a heart as willing as thine own

and upon our own free will. Here's my hand.

DEAN

And mine, with my heart swallowed up in it.

I love thee too, Castiel.

Come, the storm approaches.


	7. Act III Scene II

**ACT III**

**SCENE II**

**__** _(Next to a towering waterfall closely embraced by the island's jungle.)_

_(enter CROWLEY and KALI)_

KALI

Tell me we need ne'er drink water again. 

This liquor is top of the mark, monster.

CROWLEY

Go on, sip and guzzle at my ale. 

I’ll lure thee to a false recumbancy,

ply thee with the finest things on th’island 

to sway thy head and hands to my purpose.

I shall use thee to wrest back my kingdom. 

KALI

What dost thou pass on this lonely isle?

Didst spend all this time perfecting thy drinks?

La, for a way off this sodden pimple.

Yet first I must find they who storm crafted

and upheaved my journey out, causing me

to wander this silical soil alone.

Or was alone, save this creeping servant.

Monster. Tell me thy woe. How came thee here?

_(enter GABRIEL, invisible)_

CROWLEY

I’ve been here since a babe in mother’s arms,

tragically lost and then my welfare

was my own as much as any king’s will.

I was as much a god as any man

shaping this island to my grand purpose.

Until a tyrant, a feared sorcerer

arrived with strange magicks and cursed tongue

and cheated me of my rightful scepter.

GABRIEL

Thou liest, and to such a hothouse rose.

CROWLEY

_(scowling at the air)_

Thou cannot see past the promised freedom

trapped squarely by the one thou defendest!

I lie not, thou limp magicked octopus.

KALI

This puppet speaks straight to the watered air!

What a strange play.

CROWLEY

By sorcery does my jailer spin clothes,

conjure food, manufacture fine spirits, or

tear the air into shreds and fill’t with shrieks.

Bobby took this isle from me through black works.

KALI

Oho! Measures the air and sways the storms?

Might this man be the sorcerer I seek?

Monster, dost thou wish to be rid of him?

CROWLEY

As a fish air. Dost thou desire this land?

I will gladly place a crown on thy brow

if it should mean the toppling of Singer.

KALI

I do.

CROWLEY

Very good. Throw thy shoulder to wheel,

bend to my purpose and we shall wrestle

all power and might from those who wronged me.

GABRIEL

Thou canst not.

CROWLEY

Interrupt me not!

KALI

I arrived on th’island through cold spirits

which dragged me down deep into this muckmire.

I’ll have the sorcerer on a turned spit,

eat his entrails with a fine fruit spritzer

for all that he impeded my mission.

My lover awaits across the sea.

GABRIEL

Lover? Hopes dashed before I raised them up.

I must focus on the plan unfolding,

not on the empty space residing here.

KALI

This man is mad. Shouts freely to the air.

But he holds keys to he who brought me here.

I must follow him to begin this fight.

Monster, I grow weary of my service.

I would be waited upon by thy hands

as only a king may be. I'll rule thee

after I tear down this vile sorcerer.

I'll wield a sword in exchange for a crown. 

CROWLEY

Here is our plan. We'll set in when all sleep,

storm the house, take those sparking books and burn.

Words are the greatest source of his power,

we'd do well to rid ourselves of them first.

Take thy sword to the old man's throat and slice,

but spare if thou may two who dwell within

who carry not power to unmake th'sky.

They may go free or be of use by thou

They possess beauty beyond parallel

and strengths unmeasurable. They're useful.

KALI

Total destruction is my preference, though

I'll preserve if I must. We'll move tonight.

GABRIEL

This will I tell my master.

KALI

If this beast be a man I would see thee. 

If it be a devil, take't as thou lies. 

Oh what strange music wafts to my ears

as full of deadly intent as beauty. 

CROWLEY

At last the spirits speak. Art thou afeared?

KALI

Faugh! Fear is never the word I would use. 

A fine power show and formidable. 

But will it be of use or a hindrance?

Lead me to those I'll wet my sword upon.

_(Thunder rumbles)_

Curse this storm. I will work my thirsty blade

and come for the sky gods next.


	8. Act III Scene III

**ACT III**

**SCENE III**

**__** _(A quiet cove encircled by rock, accessible only by slipping through a slim passage. As with everywhere on the island, greenery and flowers seem to coat every surface. Gentle waves lap at pristine sand. The cove is bright blue, the water shallow. Nothing exists here that might hurt a person. It’s an entirely soft place - a kind of Heaven.)_

_(enter CASTIEL and DEAN)_

DEAN

The sun slants gently o’er this shell locked cove

which holds me when in respite from duty.

The warm embrace of these curv’d stone towers

shelters and nurtures me in my earned ease

proves balm for harder memories, helps them

pass like scuttled clouds on the horizon.

CASTIEL

'Tis a glor’ous haven. As beautiful

surely in sunfall as in starlight

DEAN

When the fires occupy my mind ov’rmuch

here I retreat. Yet now there is new purpose.

Thy presence lends tender definition

to the small’st snail or soaring cormorant.

It shall ever after become precious

for a single footfall from thee upon th’sand.

I would share it with thee this passing hour?

CASTIEL

As payment for my toil? ‘Twas no hardship.

DEAN

If thou likes. I would return thy kindness.

CASTIEL

_(staring)_

Apologies.

I cannot steer my eyes from thy count’nance.

We are passing through a gate together

and I cannot help but marvel at it.

To think I have thy tender affection,

my soul rests brimful with honeyed joy.

DEAN

I am much the same. All my life I’ve longed

for a pool of calm, a shadowed shelter.

I knew as soon as I saw thee my heart

had found its docking plank.

Here. Work has caused sweat to soak through thy clothes.

My uncle’s harsh chores have winnowed at thee

so I must gather thee up as I may.

I’ll restore the dew bright spark to thine eye.

Come! A swim. Let these waters cool thee.

CASTIEL

If I dive into these divine blue depths

then thou must as well. Please. I entreat thee.

DEAN

I would sooner perish than leave thy side.

Of course I shall swim with thee. Here, thy shirt.

_(unbuttons CASTIEL'S shirt)_

There. We will lay this aside to dry,

let the sun toil while we rest in its heat.

Aid me with mine own?

CASTIEL

I’ll slip thy wrappings from rounded shoulder,

from firm and honeyed flesh. Were I a bee

I would press my lips to't and drink it in.

DEAN

Oh, glad blossoms which open to thy mouth!

There is my shirt then, dropped low at thy feet.

Tattered cov’rings unfit for thy presence,

I should shrink before thee, an ant beneath

thy lofty station. Castiel. I’d quail

were it not for that coal dark look which speaks

of passion borne from what fire I know not.

CASTIEL

A fire fed by pounding heart and wild breath.

My world trembles like lightning struck pine

and I burn.

Oh, this rose wracked flesh. I’ll fit my palms here

and count myself luckier than angels

to hold myself here on this beach with thee.

Such a strange gift to be pressed upon me

low and undeserving as a base worm,

despite my station the least among men.

Is it mead which dews his chest or honey

fit for gods’ cups? Mayhaps he is a god

lying low on this distant shore shielded

from men’s prying eyes 'til I arrived here

and discovered him.

Could I but reach out and touch and taste him

I might die happy, my hunger appeased.

Spirit rolls beneath his flesh like green fire

and seeing it, I am at last home.

DEAN

I am a mortal man, trav’ling alone

down a roadway, my only companion

spirits and stories. Family trails like ghosts

there but fixed beyond my own direction.

But when I look at thee I see thou’rt mine

and now I belong only to thee.

Make ready. Join me in the water.

CASTIEL

I'll make haste.

_(DEAN leads CASTIEL to the water)_

DEAN

Let us part Poseidon’s trembling curtain

and be swallowed. Swim with me, Castiel.

CASTIEL

Swim. Of course. I’ll stretch my arms to embrace’t.

Oh my pulsing flesh. I can’t control it.

So bury me in the cooling waters,

let them douse this flame which licks warm my skin.

Let it calm this storm which builds between us

lest lightning spiral forth and strike us down

DEAN

_(dives into the water, splashing, playful)_

I was raised a fish, school bred to paddle

and stroke through’t as easy as breathing air.

Dost thou swim? When thou stands, looks but moves not?

CASTIEL

A little. I fear I will swim too deep.

DEAN

I’d catch thee and tow thee back, no current

nor wave shall pull thee from my sure embrace.

You’ll not drown, or we’ll do so together.

CASTIEL

I would feign suffer regret to use thee,

yet I should like thy kindly brought assist

to part these buoyant waters, warm and sweet.

Wouldst thou teach me to swim? Show me method?

Guide my limbs to thy purpose?

DEAN

Oh gods.

CASTIEL

Only hold me in thine arms and I will float

in this heavenly pool.

DEAN

I would.

_(slips his arms around CASTIEL)_

There. Close eyes, ease breath, drift with each calm wave.

I’ll not let thee fall to the sea’s floor.

Oh this press of skin, his arm. His shoulder.

I cannot breathe for want. I’ll drown i’the air.

CASTIEL

He encircles me.

May I die now there is no higher place,

no cloud topped paradise to exceed this.

Poets call back across the time’s pages

declaring theirs the pinnacle of love.

Fools, all. No greater myst’ry than his touch.

I yearn for more.

I’ll press slowly back as though by inches,

he shall not notice my steady approach.

DEAN

Oh agony! I might devour him

yet I would yearn to be closer to him.

I might praise him if words e’er were worthy.

He exceeds all. I am wrapped up in bliss.

Utterly lost.

I’ll press slowly in as though by inches,

he shall not notice my steady approach.

Sweet delight.

CASTIEL

At last I feel the length and breadth of him.

Oh god of every pantheon, my prayers

for drink in a parched desert were answered

by an ocean.

He is heat and hardness. Fire unspoil’d.

I shall slide along him, find harmony,

Heaven’s perfect blissful spiral i’the act.

DEAN

What master of precious pain is this now

to torture me thus?

I’d use his body and be used in turn.

I crave him like a serpent for the sea.

A wave comes and I will float upon it,

every touch ignites me. I’ll immolate

then I’ll drown.

CASTIEL

Water seizes me like a sacrifice,

lifts me from my feet and up towards the moon’s

pale face, a priestess to this greedy god.

I’ll supply my life then, willing tribute

and lay my head down upon his shoulder.

We will be borne up again and again

and praise the god which brought us together.

My shorefall may fill thick with tragedy

but I’d sooner have this than a staid life.

DEAN

Castiel.

I’m run to madness. Oh, give me thy flesh.

That I may worship it by pressed palms.

CASTIEL

Fairer words ne’er spoken and none too soon.

I’ll be lost in thy forest as a stag

arrow struck.

I’ll turn in thine arms like a flower

following the sun’s progress, worshipful.

I feel thy desire.

DEAN

Soft, like a rose between us, I’ll touch thee

careful as a gardener to a stem.

CASTIEL

More.

DEAN

Brushing as leaves on a rock, I’ll touch thee.

CASTIEL

More! Dean.

DEAN

Then let me press thy flesh, channel ardor

through wanting fingers and love starved tongue.

Sink into thee and hold closely to me

as two twined vines tangled in the sunshine.

There. Dost thou feel it?

CASTIEL

Aye. And thou?

DEAN

Aye.

CASTIEL

Wrap thee firmly round my branching member.

Control me, my pleasure thine to direct.

DEAN

Oh, thy hard length, this warm sea, thy firm lips.

I like the salt from them and the sweetness.

My ripe peach, dripped with tongue dangled juices.

CASTIEL

I never knew heaven, truly, 'til now.

Stroke me, sweet one. Give me thy willing mouth.

Let me care for you. Oh, I'd bury deep

my love in thee.

DEAN

As a sea bird ascends white clung clifftops

so do I circle higher, chasing height.

Dizzying I'll ride the wild drafts,

follow thy wind wherever thou may go.

Where once I feared to fall now I balance

atop the edge of a gold gilded cloud

knowing aught but together our flight's thrill.

I am lifted by thee, by thy embrace and

fire crackles along my skin turning

me to a matchstick flame kindled by thee.

Tell me, dost thou join me?

CASTIEL

Yes, oh yes. Oh, I uplift. Develop wings.

With every touch of thy lips I'm reborn.

Oh sweet gods, I join thee!

DEAN

Castiel!

CASTIEL

My love!

DEAN

Oh softest joy.

I will spin downwards like a breeze teased leaf

soft and quiet, and astonished at th'ground.

Oh great wonder that thou should come to me

or that I have come to thee.

Though our dance is done I find I still crave.

Lend me thy lips and I will bend to thee.

CASTIEL

Gladly will I.

DEAN

I'd relive this for an eternity

so still in its perfection, hand in hand.

CASTIEL

I vow I'll never let thee free from me

but I'll watch over thy soul with all th'love

I bring to bear on this watery rock.

But my love, shivers wrack thy body. Come

to the shore where I may lay thee gentle

and tend to thee soft, as a lover will,

the sun sponging the sea from our skin

leaving salt fit for tasting if thou wish't.

DEAN

I'm yours for all and everything. I swear't.

_(Thunder rumbles)_

A storm approaches. Let's retire ashore,

back to my cabin. We'll return anon

and I'll love thee as the flush of dawn spreads

across thy skin.


	9. Act IV Scene I

**ACT IV**

**SCENE I**

**__** _(Outside of the cabin. The walls, the plane, the wreckage are all covered in garlands of flowers as though for a party. The air itself seems to glimmer in the golden evening light.)_

_(enter DEAN, CASTIEL, SAM, EILEEN, and BOBBY)_

BOBBY

My nephews. My sons. I've given my boys

a full third of my life, most on this isle.

Through storm and sun and the strangest trials

that a raw parent may happen upon,

that thou standest before me in full bloom

makes me the proudest father.

And so I called thee here to celebrate

Dean and Castiel. And Sam and Eileen.

Today if thou art willing I'll marry thee

and make happiest couples of all present.

SAM

_(speaking and signing)_

A baleful wind brought thee here on a

stormstruck jet which died in the grayed sky.

Such events should bring sorrow and stern eye

yet I find aught but joy at th'accident

which brought thee to my side. My sweet Eileen.

To think but a day past I knew thee not.

I was poorer for't then. I'd marry thee.

EILEEN

My devotion too holds fast, noble sir.

This sword led my life like a compass point

pointing me this way and thus, always was

service to the kingdom first, life later.

I find new direction here by thy side.

A surprise, but never to be denied.

I'll fast my hands to thine own, wrap them tight

until we learn all, and beyond as well.

DEAN

Thy wonder echoes mine own. Castiel.

Thou art the most devastating creature

I have known or think I will ever meet.

If thou desirest, tie thy fate to me.

I will be forever thy partner.

CASTIEL

Were I to meet God and given a choice

twixt eternity alone or mere handfuls

of years at thy electrifying side

I would choose mortality every time.

My love, thine every action gives rise to

dimension and richness I never knew

or dreamed to know.

I would give thee my kingdom or follow

thee to the farthest forest if it meant

I would only stay by thy side.

BOBBY

It is settled! I'll marry these couples.

Gabriel! A word!

_(Enter GABRIEL)_

BOBBY

We would have a celebration, spirit!

Bring the revelry that we may rejoice.

A masque, a play to secure our interest

as we prepare to join these four to two.

GABRIEL

I shall call forth the best for the event.

_(Thunder rumbles in the distance)_

DEAN

Only azure sky threatens overhead

yet thunder echoes round like dread knocking?

CASTIEL

Strange weather to growl at us so loudly

even for this most peculiar island.

Now that thou remarkest, I note the change

and dost not the ground tremble 'neath our feet?

DEAN

As though a beast or god has taken hold

and begun to roll us in sprightly game.

Something dangerous approaches our set.

I would wish for blades rather than flowers.

GABRIEL

A grand masque! I conjure entertainment

_(enter LILITH)_

LILITH

Zach'riah, most bounteous sir thy rich

leaves of wheat, rye, barley, vetches, oats and pease,

thy turfy mountains, where live nibbling sheep,

thy spire, mounted pike, thy weaponry blaze.

Approach, rich Zach'riah, her to entertain.

_(enter ZACHARIAH)_

ZACHARIAH

Hail many colored messenger,

thou blood drenched harbinger...

DEAN

Methinks this play is surpassing strange now.

CASTIEL

Rife with malice for all that our party

should peaceful, honeyed words of love's victory.

ZACHARIAH

...with each end of thy blue bow dost slice, gut,

and steam yon entrails in the rich flat sand.

Why hast thou gone and summoned me hither,

to this short grass'd green?

LILITH

A contract of true love to celebrate,

a theme of escape that we must abate,

Queens of creation we are to stop fast

these blessed lovers 'fore they leave this place

and slip loose our masters' grasping fingers.

ZACHARIAH

Tell me true, heavenly bow, if great Venus

or her son shall kowtow and lend hammers

to these heads? I shall conjure a weapon.

May it drip with their blood.

CASTIEL

With these threats this is beyond passing strange.

Bobby! King of this island! Whyfore this?

This is no love's play, lightly performed.

BOBBY

I swear, this is none of my conjuring,

though the flesh be my intent the swordwork

and the reddened eye cries out foul! Foul!

Tis the work of demons , not my Gabriel.

And look!

_(enter CROWLEY and KALI)_

More sword bearers to slice away at us.

CROWLEY

There he is my odious jail keeper.

Tie him to a rock, let him the sun claim.

God's truth, I will have my island again.

BOBBY

Thou vile cur! Thou perfidious servant!

How dare thee bare a sword towards my sons?

DEAN

Swordsmistress! Get thy weaponry, bring forth

rapiers and daggers, guns and bullets.

Brother, aid her. We must be fighters all.

_(exit SAM and EILEEN)_

KALI

Have I interrupted a merry feast?

La, what sorrow. Which of you bears magic

who cast us down to this sorry sand trap?

I'll slice thee to ribbons, or the whole lot

shouldst thou be reticent to share.

CASTIEL

'Twas a merry feast, until met with threats

Get behind me Dean, Bobby. I'll save thee

for I've a sword up my sleeve. I'll shake't out.

Now. Who is this sword maiden who threatens

to end us all? Release they weaponry

or turn it on that which may kill us all.

KALI

Monster, thou liest not. These boys are scrumptious

yet my attention is drawn towards one

who smirks towards me like a love sodden fool.

I'd slap his face if I did not kiss it.

My aim was to destroy the sorcerer

yet magic sparks in this creature's body

and I can't find the heart to cut it out.

GABRIEL

Oh happy maelstrom.

_(thunder sounds)_

That was not me should any here inquire

our island is beset. Lower thy sword.

Only join by my side and we'll achieve

new heights together, or delicious lows,

all would be sweet at thy side.

KALI

Trickster spirit, dost thou amuse thyself?

These growling apparitions appearing

as gentle women, save red-eyed fury

and a preponderance of pointed blades.

Does Zach'riah bear a scythe?

GABRIEL

Not my doing. Will nobody listen?

I am cursed with idiots not players.

_(enter EILEEN)_

EILEEN

My blade stands ready. I'll harvest these ghosts

and then thy tongue for that offense, spirit.

GABRIEL

Out of all of these fools, thou'rt the least.

LILITH

Man's hot minion is returned t'us again;

her waspish headed son his arrows broke,

swears he will shoot no more but play with sparrows,

and be a boy right out.

ZACHARIAH

I would as soon kill a boy as a man.

Highest king of state, great Azazel comes.

We will know him by his robe's iron stench.

_(enter AZAZEL)_

AZAZEL

How is my bless't brother? Beloved Zach'riah?

Go with me now to skewer these lovers,

that they may be swallowed by time and rest

e'ermore.

BOBBY

This all goes to ruin. My trusted magicks

Turning on us, demanding blood for home,

death for freedom.

_(enter SAM)_

SAM

When in our cabin I pulled forth a book

and spent some moments in rapid study.

Look, Uncle, there be no magic awry,

no spell malfunction. Larger powers play

_(Sam points to a crack in the blue sky that suddenly appeared behind the assembled players. The crack starts small but as they watch, it begins to grow into a shimmering gold thing that slivers down the sky like it's the side of an egg.)_

DEAN

That's no cloud, no summer storm.

SAM

Nor god, nor sweet rainbow, nor harvest fair.

Something deadly splits the air. Thunders loud

though the sky be clear. We'll sink lest we fight.

Against that swallowing light.

CASTIEL

To swords! To swords! My battle's blood runs high,

we'll knock these enemies like gnats from fruit

DEAN

I should fight beside my love knife outdrawn

And yet this danger seems too apparent,

a shining bauble meant to distract while

bigger games bend 'round this protected cove.

I will slip away and return anon.

My uncle's books may again hold the key,

mysteries smuggled by a sea borne Duke.

The answer lies therein.

_(exit DEAN)_

LILITH

Thou nymphs, call'd Naiads, of the winding brooks,

with thy edged crowns and ever-harmless looks,

leave thy crisp channels and on this green land

answer thy summons; Azazel does command.

Come hateful nymphs, and help to decimate

a contract of true love, be not too late.

_(enter certain nymphs bearing oversized wooden clubs)_

ZACHARIAH

Bless this bountiful harvest.

LILITH

Sunburnt sickle men, of August weary,

come hither from the furrow and be wary,

make thee ready, thy battle hats put on

and these fresh fools debowel every one.

_(enter a parade of grain reapers, scythes glinting in the light of the split sky)_

BOBBY

This army is too much. We can not hold.

_(Enter DEAN)_

And what of the queen? Her people are raw

open prey in their little vipered cove.

Boys, we must flee.

DEAN

Run to where? The eastern bladed forest?

To the west and the clubbed nymphal wood?

P'raps to the sea and the fissure swall'wing

the sky which even now pulses and grows

too bright to look at.

CASTIEL

It swallows even the sun. We must go.

EILEEN

We'll box ourselves south to the island's heart.

Retreat is a word I despise but Sam

and all these people here are endangered.

I will run to save he whom I adore

SAM

I shall fight by thy side, but I'd do it with

weapons enough and time. Let us away.

CASTIEL

These nymphs, blademen. Even the gods settled

seem familiar to my senses. A tune?

Heard, rarely repeated? A melody?

It weaves through these creatures until I'd vow

with near certainty that these were puppets

and not controlling themselves but lusting

after our blood as dogs may strain a leash.

DEAN

You think them unreal?

CASTIEL

I think this is a dream and nothing more.

I know not how to wake, nor if any may.

Thou returned with something. What's in thy hands?

DEAN

Mayhaps a key. I went to the cabin

to uncover secrets in bespelled books.

Instead I laid my eyes on this slim tome

recognized it like a hook in my gut

and brought it hence for study. I'll slip't

in my pocket and make ready to race.

BOBBY

Flee, my children. Fly to the wooded vale.

We'll form a plan and plot a queen's rescue.

_(exit BOBBY, DEAN, CASTIEL, SAM, EILEEN)_

CROWLEY

I longed for blood, for Bobby flayed and weeping

yet the king is usurped before my time.

I find

I long for whole unpierced skin even more

than I do vengeance. I will follow.

KALI

Rotten stump. I will follow thee inward,

though with my sword raised thus.

This magic grows worse. The trap closes,

steady jaws surround us all.

GABRIEL

My warrior with the beast of the isle?

This won't do. I'll work my own magics

though I do not like the looks of this hoard.

'Tis a sea of hungry birds. Myself, a fish.

KALI

We'll follow to the woods.


	10. Act V Scene I

**ACT V**

**SCENE I**

**__** _(In the sheltered cove where rests the Queen and her entourage. It faces the sea and the large crack in the sky. Small fissures of butter gold light are forming all around them, some in the water and some on the shore.)_

_(enter ELLEN, RUFUS, BELA, MEG, HANNAH and CHARLIE)_

ELLEN

The sky splits apart and we rest, trapped

on this shore and in every direction

the cracks spread across as though to consume.

RUFUS

Tis a scar stretching out along the world

or a lion’s scratch at a caged door

tearing its way out.

CHARLIE

Or making its way into our domain.

I do not think it bears us good omen.

With wary eye stand ready with thy blades.

BELA

Give me a boat, a plane, a plank of wood.

Let us row from the threat, rather than wait

for some light born beast to consume us all.

_(enter BOBBY and GABRIEL, invisible)_

BOBBY

Now should my vengeful project have peaked.

I would walk among my old enemies,

scoff at their confusion and misfortune,

play pranks and force confessions long o’erdue.

Yet we push instead for ready answers,

we walk now blindfolded against the night

pushed through a forest of teeth and bone.

GABRIEL

Thou art right to fear the ravening horde

which overwhelmed us and chased us hence.

We ought to fear.

Yet I still sense something familiar here.

BOBBY

Could there be magic in this gathered lot?

I thought I knew my fellow nobles well,

they had little pow’r or desire for spells

save which was granted by fortunetellers,

charlatans and showmen valued ‘bove craft.

‘Tis hard to believe one of them could tear

this world apart.

GABRIEL

Nay, the magic rests not with these, but close

under my nose, as hard to see as me

and yet, when I look upon thee…

How now, hast thou examined thyself?

A pallor of spirits rests upon thee.

Has this misting dread been here all along?

Magic glimmers in the cracks of thy soul.

BOBBY

No magic in these bones, save what I've stored

from books and a long lifetime of study.

Come, let’s call the others that they may see.

GABRIEL

My pets, my doves! Come hither, now descend!

_(enter CASTIEL, DEAN, SAM, EILEEN, CROWLEY, KALI)_

And now, to see to our own transpar’ncy.

_(GABRIEL and BOBBY become visible)_

CHARLIE

Have I stared overlong at skyward rifts?

Surely there weren’t men here moments before.

Now, they’re revealed. An hallucination?

I’ll press my finger to’t and determine

be it vapor’ous state, or solid matter.

GABRIEL

Ah! Mischiev’ous wench I am no vapor.

Remove thy hand for I am spoken for

by the one who stands behind and levels

her killing gaze against the world. Come, love.

Do attest to the firmness of my flesh.

KALI

This spirit would try ev’n the best soul, child.

Cease crowing. I may yet give thee a chance,

should thou learnest to fasten shut thy mouth.

GABRIEL

It isn’t my magic that makes thee swoon so.

CASTIEL

Enough of this small mouthed nattering.

We must attend to greater matters. First.

Mother.

ELLEN

Oh, my child, I thought thee bleached to coral

yet here thou standest tall and whole, undrown’d.

I’d fall into thine arms were I not shocked.

Could I do more than tremble, I would for

what mother would not weep at the return

of her lost child?

CASTIEL

I thought thee dead as well and mourned thee

and now thou art alive! I bring thee news.

I have met a man who is good and fair.

He accompanies me here.

DEAN

Your son arrived to shore like a rainbow

following a beclouded summer storm

and my life is richer and more open for it.

I would beg thee an audience, fair queen.

But now is no time for rejoicing. Swords!

Swords ready! An army fast approaches.

ELLEN

An army from where? We’ve watched fast the cracks.

CROWLEY

Battling nymphs pursue from whence we fled.

MEG

Nymphs, you say? Those gentle ensouled treefolk?

CROWLEY

And for escort, overzealous farmers.

MEG

Is nowhere on this ratty island safe?

CROWLEY

Safety is a tissue in a downpour,

quickly dissolved and utterly useless.

_(The ground trembles and thunder rumbles. The largest rift in the sky opens wider.)_

BELA

La, we should have paddled out to sea then!

It seems the land wishes to drink us first.

BOBBY

Cease this idjit nattering. We must all

raise our weapons, circle ourselves thusly,

watch all corners and wary eye to th’sides.

CASTIEL

Will we thrust our swords at these common clouds?

It would have as much effect. Had we but time...

DEAN

There’s no time. There is never enough time.

CASTIEL

My love.

DEAN

Never enough time.

CASTIEL

We will survive this. I swear it to thee.

DEAN

I can’t fathom a world without thy grace

encircl’ng my life like protective fire.

Truly I am lost and happily so.

We’ll meet on the other side, come what may.

CHARLIE

Eileen! Sword sister. Our blades are ready.

I’ll battle at thy side, cat and tigress.

EILEEN

Dearest friend. Look upon the sky! It splits.

There is the enemy, a great black cloud

simmering up like poison from the sea.

I fear it’s our end.

Already the island turns on us all,

bites our hands and digs blades into our sides.

SAM

It billows this way. An insid’ous squid.

Should we retreat to the wood’s canopy?

DEAN

No time. There is no time. The army comes.

CASTIEL

My sword is thirsty. Let them come. Lilith,

Azazel, Zach'riah, and their sundry spirits!

We are ready. Quick! Parry! Look out!

DEAN

I will put my back to thine, sword slashing.

Together let us remove this Azazel.

SAM

We’ll conquer the rainbowed goddess. Ready?

EILEEN

Hungry for it.

CROWLEY

Once again I find my life on the line.

Still I am willing to fight for my blood.

MEG

The same. I’ll even fight alongside thee.

Though instinct whispers point this at thee,

I’ll shove my blade in a god instead.

_(a fierce battle ensues)_

DEAN

He is finished.

Quick, ready thy blade. A scythe descends!

CASTIEL

I’ll cut this wood nymph to jagged splinters.

SAM

I’ll knock down this puppet, cut through Lilith's strings.

EILEEN

Ah, we’ve sliced her nose to navel, now close

and let’s attend to these farmers.

KALI

Had I strength I would roar to burn these all.

A blade does just as well.

GABRIEL

La, my sword and staff are at thy command.

Look, I've gutted Zach'riah for thy meal.

MEG

All gods dead, yet more scythemen remain.

CROWLEY

Let us reap then, lest we sow our own blood.

BOBBY

Their numbers are dwindling yet we remain.

ELLEN

My kingdom, howe’er small, safe. ‘Ware the club!

I’ll slice this one.

RUFUS

This is a happy dance, to fight so well,

like an old friend, sorely missed.

BELA

We come out on top, to my great surprise.

Perhaps there’s value in these fools yet.

HANNAH

I’d prefer peace, but I’ll suffer the blade

to win safety for those whom I love.

CHARLIE

We’ve almost reached the crown. This embattled

troop will best them all and leave us free.

CASTIEL

We may yet win through, our time's almost here.

DEAN

Blood scarcely spilled and we’ll find a quiet beach

I think we may--

CASTIEL

Look out! My love!

DEAN

I’m struck. And not by cupid’s arrow

but a scythe, jagged and to the heart.

CASTIEL

I’ll kill it! There it’s done. The last of them.

Oh my love I kneel by thy side. Pray, talk!

Do not leave me in this paradise alone.

My life is a dark tunnel without you,

runs for miles underground away from the sun

and in that darkness the monsters I’ve birthed

shall catch up, tear me to blood and bone.

I cannot face this world alone.

SAM

Oh gods, I pray to thee. Let him survive.

CASTIEL

Even now his breathing grows still and I--

I am lost.

DEAN

How does my heart still beat? Drumming still.

Moving still. Breathing still. I felt the blade

cut tracks into my skin. By force alone

I should be dead.

CASTIEL

Thou speakest. Oh love, may this never cease.

Let’s hold fast the stave rooted in thy chest.

If I pull at it shall I lose thee then?

DEAN

If I die it will be with one last look.

My beloved take heart. Here, we’ll pull together.

_(pulls out scythe)_

I am free of it.

I am free of it yet blood still pulses

along these long bones and I will wager

will do for many happy days with thee.

Yet how have I survived the killing strike?

Only a moderate wound endures

and the blade sticks fast in my jacket.

Look, it’s swallowed by a book which I pulled

from my uncle’s cabin not an hour ago

and has saved my life. Traced upon it reads

“The Tempest”

CASTIEL

I’ll kiss this cover for its lifesaving.

DEAN

That book.

That book recalls to me another place.

A small desperate cabin in the woods,

fear and sorrow, and endless warmaking.

An old house, underground, tunneled warren.

I look upon this ruin'd book and suddenly

I remember.

I remember everything.


	11. Act V Scene II

**Act V**

**Scene II**

**__** _(In the sheltered cove where rests the Queen and her entourage. It faces the sea and the large crack in the sky. The dead gods, nymphs and reapers lay all about and as the assembled watch, they dissolve in brightening light from the tear in the sky. The light changes to tones of gray, lending a touch of unreality to what was once technicolor bright surroundings.)_

_(enter ALL)_

DEAN

The scales from my eyes have fallen away,

the scenery changed though we moved it not,

I find clarity beginning to sprout.

CASTIEL

My love. Thou farest well? When I saw thee fall--

DEAN

I am thy love still?

CASTIEL

Of course, Dean. I--

The sand swims suddenly before my eyes.

How came this marble effect? I'll clutch at't

and pull myself back like one nearly drowned.

How woozily did I fall to the sand!

How strongly the ground pulls me to its breast.

DEAN

I look upon thee and my world trembles.

I may not pull myself from this quaking ground

before I am consumed in it wholly.

SAM

We'll all be consumed. The gash'd light brightens.

The ground shakes as if to threaten us

pressing us to action or raw despair.

DEAN

So it does.

CASTIEL

The puzzle begins to fit together.

This book you had in hand which came to be

god-sliced, destroyed, opened wide memory's door.

These people here...

ELLEN

How came we all to this quiet island?

Thou presents a visage so familiar.

BOBBY

Thou knowest me and once called me friend.

ELLEN

Bobby Singer.

BOBBY

Yours in solidity, my queen.

Queen. That nameplate rings oddly in my ears.

ELLEN

So it does. But how arrivest thou here

to share this shore with my companions?

BOBBY

I was exiled years past, brought here my boys.

Was exiled by thee, betrayed by Bela.

This island crash was my vengeance plot.

Yet.

My story echoes in my ears. I'll shake,

try to beat the falseness from my brainpan.

CASTIEL

Falseness is the right word for this feeling.

I am crossed in the air, split by a knife

I cannot see nor feel any shape to.

Memories race and I struggle to keep

those which we've formed here on this island's shores.

DEAN

I feel it. The rush of reality

and with it these two days drain away whole.

CASTIEL

I'll clutch at them fiercely 'til the end.

DEAN

As I. I've known thee for a thousand years

or ten years, or one long beautiful day.

Give me thy hand. Let me press't to my lips.

CASTIEL

Dean.

KALI

I press my mind to th'surface, take a breath.

This is not my world, though I came with will.

I came to rescue thee, island spirit.

GABRIEL

With the death of the book, I scramble back.

I was imprisoned, that much was true.

Chained alone in a well of light. Bobby.

Thou arrived. I was both freed and not free.

BOBBY

And I imprisoned as well, though not here

but a small and quiet space, crackling

with lighted gaps which spoke with thy tongue,

shouted for help, surcease. We made a plan

to escape together.

HANNAH

There is a smell to this place, of static

I've known for as many years as sand grains

on this simulacrum shore. I am home

and not home.

CROWLEY

I too feel the strange pull of memory.

EILEEN

We float ephemeral as a dream now.

CHARLIE

I confess there're times when my eyes roll shut,

tourmaline ocean turns to porcelain,

darkness and blood surround me like a shroud.

BOBBY

And I, the white walls of a room closed in,

machines nattering away in my ear.

ELLEN

And I, a hound's howl, and fire consumed.

I recall an odd death so appearing

more real than the sandy grit in my eyes.

BOBBY

These strange things. Hast thou an explanation?

DEAN

We reside, memories piling around

sand drifts of thought gathered betwixt my ears.

I'll vow we all possess the stuff of dreams.

_(thunder rumbles)_

There again, the sky seems to scream at us.

CASTIEL

My love, I press my cheek to thine own.

I see...

DEAN

Whatever thou needest, only ask me.

CASTIEL

I remember a portal. Glowing chase.

Grasping hands, shark bright swords desperat'ly close

Then I was drawn here, to land on the shore.

I am no prince. I am a fallen thing,

anchored to another earth and mission.

Though anchored always to thee. Thou'rt the world.

DEAN

I have lived thirty years on this island

And no time at all. My origins darker

than I can bear. Thou'rt sunlight breaking through.

We don't belong here, but I belong with thee.

SAM

The gash quickens with every indrawn breath.

'Ware. We will be consumed in fire soon.

CROWLEY

Feathers filter through my cold perception.

Castiel, when hast thou grown a pair of wings?

CASTIEL

Wings? Oh, how they hang like blackened shadows.

DEAN

Thou art cloaked in beauty all the same.

I rush to name thee: angel of the lord.

CASTIEL

And this, Heaven, but one I've never seen.

GABRIEL

Nitwits all, we are bubble trapped bugs here

and that crack in the sky which rattles us...

CASTIEL

...an army of angels presses inward

to reach us in this raw temporal space

CHARLIE

How may we fight them? This sword may not cut't

KALI

We have somehow this prison safely made

to hold us inward away from their blades.

All of us, even those long in the grave

may escape if my suspicions ring true.

ELLEN

What think thee? I'll fight 'til my ghost fades.

CROWLEY

And I.

CHARLIE

And I as well.

Though I feel, it should be said, substantial

and less ghost like than warm and solid flesh.

CASTIEL

This bubble holds us safely, pocketed

in a corner of unused reality,

the cracks are doorways to our solid homes.

Pick the right one and we live, the wrong and--

DEAN

Then we die bloody on an angel's pike.

Which doorway then? Do we peer in them all?

BOBBY

A spell just may work. This may not be real

But magic is and I wrote the books here,

the spells are in inlaid my bones and teeth.

We will divine the doorway together.


	12. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE**

**__** _(On a rocky shoal, our players stand stretched along it, out to the sea. Cracks of light surround them like worms suspended in the sky. On a large flat rock there is a chalked circle scattered with wetted herbs. A small black stone, smoothed by the sea, sits in the middle, ready to move towards the targeted portal as the spell activates. A storm builds in the bay and a strong gale blows.)_

_(enter CASTIEL, DEAN, SAM, EILEEN, ELLEN, RUFUS, BELA, HANNAH, CHARLIE, CROWLEY, MEG, KALI, BOBBY, GABRIEL)_

BOBBY

Now does my project gather to a head,

may my charms hold uncracked until it’s done

and those of us trapped within this round cage

be freed. How does the spellwork set?

GABRIEL

As well as it may given this rough gale

which seeks from us e’en the smallest sliver

and tosses holdings naughtily away.

We must be quick. I will fetch the flight crew.

_(exit GABRIEL)_

DEAN

I’d ask how came we here but time’s spun out.

For our direction now, to the bunker,

safe haven, bastion of protection.

If a rift ports us there we might survive.

CASTIEL

I’ll set it and beg for home’s direction.

BOBBY

I’d guessed this storm’s wrath my work alone.

To know ‘tis from wild magic far stranger

strains credulity.

CASTIEL

There are more things found in Heaven, Bobby,

than can e’er be understood by one mind.

KALI

It matters not whence we came or where set,

who meddled with what forces or spellwork

so long as we set course away from here

lest we sail as windblown dolls to the sea.

CHARLIE

Or be crushed by Heaven’s lightning fist.

_(enter GABRIEL with JO and KEVIN)_

GABRIEL

Here. The last souls I set upon these shores.

JO

Is this a trembling dream fixed twixt my eyes?

Mother?

ELLEN

This story spins more twists than I follow.

If this is my daughter, I must rejoice!

KEVIN

I slumb’red for so long under a stretched palm.

Until this excited creature fetched me here.

Winchesters. I should have known thy presence

by the strangeness of my story.

SAM

Second chances and third, and you are here.

I will not let thee down again, Kevin.

DEAN

O, wonder!

How many goodly friends are there here!

I’d draw thee into my arms, to the last

were we not still facing mortal peril.

CASTIEL

How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,

That has such people in't!

EILEEN

My soul is a shaking petal wond’ring

will we yet live upon escape? Or die

and find ourselves in our famil’ar places

or marooned howling and mad in the Veil.

BOBBY

Only one way presents itself to us

and that is to try and hope for new life.

GABRIEL

Anni’lation’s better than Heaven’s blade.

BOBBY

I’ll strike the match and watch the pointer slide,

then we’ll swim for it and trust all to fate.

CHARLIE

Help me Bobby, thou art our only hope.

_(BOBBY drops the match and the circle blazes with fire. The pointer stone slides.)_

KALI

The engine is fired, built ‘round thy rescues.

If I’d my power I’d make it enough.

Instead I leap with this loose assemblage.

Come! The stone points to yonder jagged gap.

CASTIEL

Plunge onward, slip loose the bonds of Heaven.

Jump!

_(exit CASTIEL, DEAN, SAM, EILEEN, ELLEN, JO, KEVIN, RUFUS, BELA, HANNAH, CHARLIE, CROWLEY, MEG, KALI)_

BOBBY

I have bedimm’d the noontime sun,

call’d forth the mutinous winds,

now it sets to a swim in the sea.

My life is lined with pages.

Should I make it through that rift?

Should I survive this shivering plight

I'll drown my book.

And what of thee, Gabriel?

GABRIEL

Where the drinks served, there rest I:

In a velvet lounge I lie;

There I couch when angels cry

On restored wings I do fly

After new life merrily

Merrily, merrily shall I live now

Somewhere glorious far from thou.

BOBBY

Why, that's my saucy Gabriel! I shall miss thee.

But yet thou shalt have freedom: so, so, so.

To the rift, and into the lighted way

My Gabriel. Thy charge is done. Fly now.

_(exit GABRIEL)_

_(The lights now dim, only BOBBY stands on the rocky jetty, staring out at the glowing rift across the water.)_

BOBBY

Now my charms are all o’erthrown,

And what strength to swim’s mine own,

Which is most faint: now, ‘tis true,

Mayhaps I’m here confined by you,

Or sent to Earth. Let me not,

Since I have my family got

And battled captors, dwell

In this bare island by my spell;

But release me from my bands

With the help of thy good hands

Gentle breath of thou tame wave

For now my intent’s to save.

I’ll whisper please. Now I want

Spirits to enforce, art to enchant

And my ending is despair

Unless I be relieved by prayer

Which pierces so that it assaults

Mercy itself and frees all faults

As ghosts from Veils would releas’d be

Let thy indulgence set me free.


	13. In the Bunker

**Conclusion: Return to the Bunker**

**__** _(The bunker is brightly lit, illuminating the table still scattered with spellbooks and ingredients. The library and map room look as though a storm tore through it with chairs and lamps upended and books piled on the floor. There’s a faint stench of seawater that pervades everything. Sixteen bodies lay scattered across the floor.)_

It hadn't worked.

The thought swam into Dean's head before he even opened his eyes. The light tore through his eyelids, staining the world red and he had a sudden vision of himself strapped onto a slab in some quiet back room of Heaven, an angel blade poised over his temple. Dean flinched minutely, hyperaware that too great a move might impale him before he had a chance to draw in a waking breath. He forced himself to breathe slowly through his nose, then opened his eyes and squinted to focus. The sun suspended above him slowly resolved into a vision of a lightbulb. The bulb lay sideways just a few feet above his head. It was attached to a long metal base which teetered over the edge of a thick wooden table. Dean groaned and turned his head to the side, blinking to clear the white-bright blots from his eyes.

Dean lay on a floor. No, Dean lay on _the floor_ \- the bunker floor. He stared at the square cut table legs and the smooth industrial flooring. The floor around and beneath the table was littered with ingredients from the spell they had cast to try to speak with Bobby. It looked as though a windstorm had whirled its way through the bunker. He groaned, shut his eyes against the light as he turned, and opened them again.

Dean gasped.

Kali had intimated that ending the spell might return them all. Dean had assumed that meant the living would be restored to Earth, while the dead were distributed back to their assigned afterlife, or else left in the Veil for reapers to locate. Instead, he found himself blinking in astonishment into Meg's delighted face. She was pressing her fingers against the skin of her cheeks, pulling and stretching at them as though testing to make sure the flesh was truly attached. She stroked her hands down along her cheekbones and her eyes flitted up to catch Dean's gaze. "Is this real?" she whispered.

"Meg," Dean said flatly. "What in the hell are you doing here?"

Meg stared over Dean to the table above him still lit by the overturned lamp, and the bookshelves beyond. "If I knew where 'here' was, sunshine, I'd tell you." Her brows jumped in surprise. "Oh thank god. I thought I'd be stuck talking like a dumbass for the rest of eternity."

"What," Dean ground out, his jaw clenching from remembered habit from just being near Meg. "What are you doing in my bunker? Is this still a fucking...mass hallucination?"

"This is no hallucination." Castiel's voice sounded a little wobbly, but alive. Dean struggled to push himself to sitting, turning eagerly to find Castiel.

Castiel lay near the map table, leaning heavily on one elbow. He lifted his head to gaze at Dean and something sparked in his eyes. Joy, then a look of longing so fleeting that Dean thought he might have imagined it. He schooled his expression into a neutral smile. "Dean. Meg. How are you feeling?"

"Like I just got run over by a truck," Dean muttered. It was a true statement, even if he felt more flattened by Castiel's cooling look than whatever magical crash landing they'd endured to bring them to the bunker. He pushed himself up slowly, testing his weight against his shaky arms. His stomach flipped in loops and whirls with the movement and he was reminded of the after-effects of angel flight, compounded several times over. He wanted to run to Castiel but now, looking at his calm regard, he was unsure of his reception. "You?"

"Odd." Castiel tilted his head to one side, his eyes sliding out of focus as though he was running a full system diagnostic. "But alright."

"A strange accident has befallen us," a voice murmured quietly, just behind him and beyond the table.

Dean gasped and whirled around. He knew that voice. "Charlie?" he asked, leaning around the table until he stared into Charlie's wide eyes. She sat up, her hands dancing before her as though enjoying the feeling of air sliding across her skin.

Charlie focused on his face. "Dean?" she squeaked.

Dean scrambled to his knees and pushed his way over to her, pulling her into a crushing embrace. "Charlie," he said, unsurprised to hear his voice crack. "Fuck." She wrapped her own arms around him. Her shaky breath against his shoulder felt incredibly real. "How are you here?"

"It was the creation engine, numb nuts," Gabriel said and Dean pulled away from Charlie's embrace and turned around. Gabriel stood near the foot of the stairs, shaking out his arms like a startled puppet. He smirked at Dean. "Your little spell tangled with our little spell and--"

"Bang," Kali drily said, staggering towards Gabriel. She pushed her hair back and it slid into place as easily as if she'd just whirled off to a salon and back. "You see, while you and your boys were trying your little summoning spell to free King Prospero over there, I was breaking into Heaven on a mission of my own."

Gabriel's smirk curved into a sugary smile. "She baked me a cake with a nail file in it, bless her three hearts."

"Stow it, Trickster," she growled but when she made her way to his side he let go of the stairway banister and swept her into a low embrace, dipping her towards the floor. He kissed her long and slow and when she rose up, her scowl had eased.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be dead, Gabriel?"

Gabriel raised his brow. "Aren't most of the people here?" He looked pointedly around the room and Dean fought to wrestle his rising joy down, still fearful that this was all somehow a cruel illusion. Bobby and Ellen were sitting up, leaning against each other. Jo and Kevin knelt on the other side of the map table. Rufus sat with his legs folded, slowly massaging his temple and looking around delightedly. Bela and Hannah looked warily at each other, Hannah's head cocked to one side as though mentally solving a puzzle. Crowley had managed to pull himself upright and was leaning against a far wall looking shaky but self-satisfied. Sam and Eileen were locked into a kiss halfway to the kitchen and didn't show signs of coming up for air any time soon.

"Fair point," Dean conceded. "You're telling me Lucifer didn't...?" He mimed a stabbing and Gabriel grinned.

"Please. That asshole never knew a good fake when he saw it. Now Raphael...he was a cagey bastard. Always had an eye towards running Heaven and when that little dustup during the apocalypse happened he got a beat on my location. Next thing I know I'm captured and en route to prison. It's all hush hush, of course. Nobody used The Tree in aeons and most angels I know probably forgot it existed. Hell, I forgot it existed."

"When I found out Gabriel was locked up," Kali said, her lips pursed, "of course I had to break him out. If only to kick his ass for lying to me for centuries."

Gabriel tightened his hold around her waist. "I look forward to your punish--"

Dean held up his palm. "Okay. That's enough."

"So Kali helped you escape," Castiel said and Dean turned to face him. He hadn't forgotten Castiel. Even amidst the pulsing joy and fear at seeing some of his most beloved friends return, he had felt Castiel's presence like a fire burning at his side. "What was your spell, that would have had this effect?"

"The Tree is tied into Heaven's creation engine," Gabriel said. "It makes it a solid prison for that reason, constantly inventing new barriers on its own."

"Every time you defeat one lock," Bobby said, nodding, "you get hit with another."

"So Kali's spell used the creation engine against itself until the solutions it created to unlock itself outnumbered the solutions it created to lock us in. All we needed was a human soul to power it and Bobby here was just the man for the job." He laughed. "Bet those dicks wish they hadn't used an angelic prison to hold a human."

Dean’s pulse began to thump in his forehead and he rubbed at it. "So you cracked Heaven's safe. You and Kali and Bobby."

"Like I said," Bobby said with a slightly sheepish grin in Dean's direction, "we had an escape plan."

"Then you yahoos came along. Your summoning spell meshed with ours. By that time the creation engine was our little bitch and when it sensed that angels were chasing after all of us, it created a little..." He tilted his head, eyes narrowed in thought as though searching for a word.

"Bubble universe," supplied Castiel. He had reached Meg's side and had a hand on her shoulder. "We were trapped in some kind of extra dimension for a time and it was our shared hallucination that both created and populated that world. It kept us safe until we fought our way towards the rift that brought us all here."

"And since it was anchored around my soul I was the one who had to end it," Bobby said. He looked pleased and Dean scowled.

"Dude, a Shakespeare play was our 'shared hallucination'?"

Gabriel chuckled. "Oh no, Dean-o. That's on you."

"The book," Sam said and Dean threw him a grateful look. "Because we used _The Tempest_ as the anchor for our spell. That's why we all dreamed we were in it?"

"Wasn't a dream," Gabriel said. "And yes." He rolled his eyes at the room at large. "What fools these mortals be, etcetera."

"The pocket world was fueled by the creation engine," Kali said. "Your minds filled it with your own people." She indicated the room at large. "And the engine brought them to life, for real."

Behind Dean, Charlie slid her fingers into his hand and he tightened his grip on them. "It fished out everyone's souls?" she asked.

"And plunked us down in the middle of a made for TV movie, yes." Meg cracked a smile and swept a hand along her body. "And you all apparently lack imagination. This was my last vessel. Not my real body."

"It's how I remembered you last," Castiel said and he smiled at Meg, wide and sweet. Dean's gut twisted in sudden jealousy and he tried to cram that away along with the joy that was now threatening to crack him open. "I remembered you like this, so you came to be in that form."

"Yeah, well, you missed something, dumbass." Meg smiled sweetly at Castiel. "You missed the whole 'demon' part."

"You mean Meg's not--?" Sam said, voice sharp across the room.

Castiel shook his head and looked around at Sam before his gaze settled on Dean. His expression was unreadable. "She isn't a demon anymore. Now, she's just human."

"Given a second chance, thanks to Clarence here."

"And what about Crowley? Bela?" Dean asked, turning towards the smirking man leaning against the wall.

"Ex-demon as well. Apparently you wanted villains for your little play but failed to push it all the way through." Crowley smiled. It hadn't been unusual for him to smile when he had been alive. They'd seen him smile in triumph, in rage, in mocking glee. But this smile was different. This smile was slow and happy and surprisingly unhaunted by pain or anger.

"You're human," Sam said flatly, his disdain and distrust palpable even from across the room.

"He is," Hannah said. She smiled out of Caroline's eyes and turned towards Castiel. "And you brought me from the firmament and made me this body."

Castiel turned his gentle smile towards Hannah. "If any angel deserves to return, it would be you, Hannah."

Dean's hand not holding onto Charlie tightened into a fist and he looked away from Castiel when Gabriel cleared his throat. Gabriel's gaze flicked between them for a moment and his lips drew into a sideways smirk. "Anyway," Gabriel drawled. "Love to stay and chat but I've got about nine years of porn to catch up on." Kali rolled her eyes at him and then walked a sultry circle around him before tugging him up the steps.

"Stay out of trouble, kids," she said and as the room looked on, Gabriel and Kali opened the bunker's creaking main door and walked out.

"Well, shit," Dean said as the door slammed shut.

"Understatement," Jo laughed and she wove on tottering legs over to Ellen, collapsing into an embrace with her mother.

* * *

An hour later and Dean was still floating on the after ripples of shock. Sam had pulled himself away from Eileen long enough to help Dean give the newcomers a crash course on the bunker's amenities. Most of the newly resurrected were staying the night; some were staying longer or indefinitely. Kevin had retired first, protesting a need for sleep before he could handle calling up his mother. He shot a dagger look at Crowley as he passed by Dean and muttered, "You sure he's human now?"

Dean had nodded and promised to keep an eye on Crowley. He'd headed over to where the ex-demon still lounged against the wall. "What's your plan?" Dean asked, with a faux casual squint. "You're human now."

"Very true," Crowley said drily. "I'm a marked man, of course. Walks like a duck, talks like a duck. Actually a goose. Without any actual powers to defend myself. I'm gonna disappear."

"That's good." Dean nodded. "That's-- Listen, Crowley. I know we've got a...weird history. But you're human now. I think you out of almost everyone here can appreciate the most how--"

"Special and precious life can be? Save your speech, Winchester." Crowley pushed himself from the wall and winked at Dean before sauntering towards the stairs. "I'm not an idiot. I...feel like I haven't in years. Maybe a second chance is all I need." He looked back. "And anyway, if I stay wallowed in your romantic comedy for one more hour I just might vomit." He jerked his head towards the center of the room and then, smiling, headed up the stairs and out of the bunker.

Dean turned to where Crowley had indicated and saw Castiel leaning against the map table, Hannah on one side and Meg on the other. He looked harried and judging by the twinkle in Meg's eye and Hannah's wooden expression, whatever conversation they were having was not going well. Dean rushed over to intercede.

"Deano!" Meg said with an overly cheerful tone. "So glad you could join us. We were just catching up on the last four years. Can you believe Survivor's still on? Man, talk about job security."

"Dean," Hannah said stiffly, inclining her head towards him gracefully. "I hear you no longer bear the Mark of Cain."

Dean felt the blood leech from his face and fought to keep his expression stoic. "Right."

"Hannah," Castiel said at the same time, his tone lowered in warning. She dipped her gaze and looked abashed before meeting Castiel's eyes. "I'm going back now," she said.

"I know," Castiel said, his brow furrowed in worry.

"What? You're going back to Heaven? Dude, we just escaped from there." Dean said, shocked.

"True, but to no fault or intent of my own. I believe I will be welcomed back into my former flight. I do not suffer the same...restrictions as Castiel." She smiled at Dean, the gentle curve adding grace to her features. "I will be fine." She looked back at Castiel. "Take care of yourself, friend," she said and then turned to Dean. "Take care of him."

"I-- Alright," Dean stammered, and then Hannah peeled off from their small group and made her way towards the exit. He turned back to Castiel and Meg, feeling heat warm his neck up to his ears. "Meg," he said, trying to cover the awkwardness. "What are you up to?"

"I'm human," she said simply, lifting her shoulders slightly in a shrug. "I'll probably stick around here for a few days. Clarence tells me you've got a shitload of bedrooms. And apparently you boys are a wonder with a fake ID." She held up a hand. "Relax. I'm not gonna stay. Why the hell would I want to waste a second chance living in an underground bunker? Or hunting." She shuddered delicately. "Cas has been telling me about the restorative properties of gardening." She winked at Castiel and slid a hand from his elbow to his shoulder where she tightened her grip for a moment, as though in commiseration. Then she moved her hand to the front of her mouth and yawned cartoonishly widely. "Boy, resurrection's the pits for energy, right? Been dead for years but I think I could sleep for days. See you, Cas. Dean." Then, Meg walked towards the group collected around the library table where Sam and Eileen were busily doling out room assignments and as much clean linen as they'd been able to scrape up. Everyone looked dead on their feet; the effect of the spells' draw on their souls had been dramatic.

Dean turned to Castiel and flicked his gaze up and down in a quick assessment. "How you doing? You okay?" He didn't mean for the words to sound so cold and he flinched to see Castiel's expression dim. "I just mean, I know you took a wallop too. It wasn't just us humans getting sucked dry by those spells."

"I'm fine, Dean," Castiel said quietly. "Thank you for asking." They stood just feet apart from each other, the distant buzz of conversation as the others in the bunker settled in dulled in the charged circle they seemed to share.

Dean shifted on his feet. "You gonna rest?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know that I can."

"Yeah. Me neither." Dean shoved his hands into his pockets. "Listen, I-- We need to talk. About what happened on the island."

Castiel looked at him warily but nodded. "I agree."

"Not here?" Dean pleaded. "Somewhere quiet, maybe."

"Of course. Where did you have in mind?"

Dean sighed and looked around. "Honestly, it's probably gonna be crammed full of people right now. And Ellen and Jo are staying in your room. I guess we could--"

"We could speak in your room," Castiel offered.

Dean flushed at the suggestion but Castiel's eyes were wide and guileless. "Uh, okay. Sounds good. Let me just, ah, check in with Sam." He hurried away from Castiel towards the group gathered around the table. Rufus and Bobby had chosen seats, reclining back like pleased patriarchs surveying the room. They were apparently exchanging stories about which memories had made it into their heavens. By Charlie's deep blush, Dean assumed the details were a bit more than she wanted to hear.

"Hey, everything settled here?" Dean asked. Sam looked up past Dean's shoulder and glanced at Castiel. When he met Dean's gaze again it was with understanding in his eyes.

"Yeah, man. Why don't you turn in? It's been a rough day."

Dean laughed a little weakly. "You're telling me." He slid his arm around Charlie's shoulders and looked over his gathered friends. "I can't even begin to tell you what it means--" he began to say, and then his voice broke. So many emotions welled up in his chest; the return of his friends and the incredibly complicated puzzle waiting behind him threatened to choke the breath from his body.

Meg let out a disgusted noise and held up a hand. "No. No Winchester feelings. I need sleep and I need bed." She scowled at him, but Dean noticed that she flicked a look at Castiel for a moment, her eyes soft.

Dean was left with the unsettling impression that Meg was offering a distraction from his impending emotional breakdown. Whether that was real or imagined, he seized on the opportunity gratefully. "Well, on that note. Goodnight, everybody." He gave Charlie one more squeeze and smiled blearily at those assembled. "I'm making you all pancakes in the morning. Gotta start you off on the right foot." He dropped a salute, winced internally at the action, and then turned around to face Castiel again. Behind him, conversation in the group surrounding Sam picked up, overly loud.

It seemed that everyone was covering for him - not just Meg. He attempted a smile at Castiel but was afraid that it emerged as more of a grimace. His stomach had dropped entirely out of his body, leaving him floating on nothing but adrenaline fumes. They walked silently down the hall together, Castiel pacing at his side.

Castiel had his hands jammed into his pockets and he didn't look at Dean until Dean swung open his bedroom door and stepped back to usher Castiel in first. Their eyes met. Dean leaned back into the doorframe, exhaustion and longing waging a war inside him. "Come on in," he managed, weakly.

Castiel shot him an impenetrable look and then walked past him. He stood in the middle of the floor looking lost so Dean placed one hand on his shoulder and gently steered him towards the bed. Castiel sat gingerly at the mattress edge, pulling his hands out of his pockets and clasping them loosely in his lap. Dean pulled out his desk chair and swiveled it to face the bed. He settled in it, leaning forward with his elbows balanced on his knees. After nearly a minute of silence, Dean took a deep breath and said, "So, that happened."

"Dean. Are you okay?" Castiel's expression seemed to hold nothing but friendly concern and Dean felt his face crinkle as confusion, longing, and the desire to shrug off everything that had happened warred within.

"Yeah, man. I'm fine. Well, fine's a relative term. Kinda hard to believe I just spent the last god-knows-how-long in Heaven's production of a goddamn Shakespeare play."

Castiel's mouth quirked up a little. "Even without the creation engine involved, Heaven's plasticity can be overwhelming."

"Understatement." Dean snorted. He cleared his throat, trying to outline what he was going to say in his mind. "Listen, I, uh, wanted to talk to you to see how you're doing. Are you okay?"

"Of course." Castiel looked down as though surveying his body for damage. "We emerged rather miraculously uninjured considering the number of angels who likely laid siege to our reality bubble."

"Yeah. That's a bonus for sure. But I really need to know..." Dean sighed and lifted his eyes towards the ceiling. "Guess I'm having some trouble wrapping my head around us getting roofied by a book. Thought it might be a problem for you too."

Castiel's expression lit with understanding. "Ah," he said, nodding slowly. "The sex?"

Dean shrugged.

"Do you--" Castiel tilted his head and squinted at Dean as though he were a solvable puzzle. "Do you feel badly about it?"

"Yeah," Dean sighed and then caught Castiel's eye. His face suddenly seemed a shade paler, if that were possible for an angel. "I mean, I liked it. God, Castiel you have no idea." Feeling greatly daring after all that remained unsaid between them, Dean settled his hand on Castiel's knee. "But you deserve better."

Castiel's eyes grew wide and he suddenly looked panicked as he drew in a breath to say, "Dean. No, I--"

"You deserve better," Dean said earnestly, his voice coming out soft and low. He lowered his gaze to look at his hand on Castiel's knee; the intensity of Castiel's lagoon-blue eyes was too much to handle at the moment. He needed to focus on getting the right words out. "You deserve better," he said again.

"There was a time when I considered my

heart insensible to song - sweet or harsh -

all was muted, distant like a dark cloud

draped o'er the horizon. Then you arrived

wreathed in glory, voice like thunder and you

opened your mouth and the song manifest.

I stopp'd my ears and sharpened my blades,

the fight mattered and aught else. I kept you

far as star and I a lowly worm

writhed in the muck and listen'd to the song.

You are the gold wreathed cloud, soft and feared.

You are the song spake low, bearing the sun

across your smile. You touch me and I rise.

The world drips from my skin, a cloak falling

'til I kneel before you, worshipping all.

From your gentle touch, your fierce loyalty

I derive all my strength. Castiel, I--

I need you like air, like sun, like soil

Like the song itself. I love you. I--"

Dean's voice broke. The room was silent for nearly a minute, Dean staring fiercely at the bedspread to the right of Castiel's knee. He could feel tears tracing along his lower lashes and he willed them to dry, willed nothing further to spill from his lips the longer Castiel remained quiet.

"Dean," Castiel said at last, his voice rough with emotion. "I have loved you for years, I think. Before I even understood it, I loved you." He stretched out his arm and traced his fingers along Dean's jaw gently, tilting up his chin. Dean let his head be raised up so his eyes could meet Castiel. "You love me?" he asked, his brows raised in awe and a trace of a smile playing on his lips.

Leaning into Castiel's touch Dean nodded, fighting the urge to roll his eyes and shrug off the admittance of emotions. "Yeah. Have for a while, too." He shrugged and then winced at himself. "Listen, I'm sorry. For before. For...for going cold on you."

Castiel nodded. "It's okay, Dean."

"No, no it's not. I'd wanted... _you_ for so long. But I got scared."

"Of what?" Castiel asked and now he looked away as though he couldn't bear to read Dean's answer in his face, despite the words they had just exchanged.

Dean laughed bitterly. "Of everything. Of opening up. Or losing you. And Cas, I got no right to keep you here. On Earth. In this bunker. You should be--" He shook his head. "You really do deserve better."

At this Castiel raised a stern eyebrow, looking affronted. "You don't keep me anywhere I don't choose to be, Dean. I've been alive longer than you could ever fathom. I thought perhaps that was why-- You should be with a human, after all. You deserve a normal life after so many years."

Dean scoffed at this. "I don't deserve anything, Cas. But I want you. Only you." He wrapped his fingers around Castiel's hand and brought Castiel's palm to his mouth. He pressed his lips to it like a sacrament before dropping their hands to his lap. He leaned over their folded palms and Castiel, as though magnetically attracted, swayed forward. Their lips met over their brushing knees.

At first the kiss was quiet, sweet and mild. It was Castiel who deepened it, perhaps realizing that if he didn't then they would never progress beyond the tentative kisses that Dean's monstrous inferiority complex held in check. Dean moaned as Castiel pushed his tongue past his lips and began to explore. He drew his hands up to cup Castiel's face. At first gentle, his touch became rough and desperate as the kiss deepened. He wrapped one hand around the back of Castiel's head, threading his fingers through his hair and tangling in his curls. He tugged and Castiel allowed his head to fall back so that Dean could explore the planes of his jaw with his lips. When he arrived at Castiel's earlobe he nipped experimentally, gratified to pull a small whine from Castiel. He contented himself for a moment, pressing his lips behind Castiel's earlobe and sucking a mark there. All the while he inhaled the tang of Castiel's skin like it was god-given nectar, intoxicating him. Castiel wound his hands into Dean's shirt and, with his chin still tilted back to grant Dean access, he pulled.

Dean followed Castiel's direction, sliding forward from the chair until he sat eagerly in Castiel's lap, his thighs on either side of Castiel's legs. "Is this real?" he gasped. The color in Castiel's cheeks was high, his eyes bright, and he slid his hands along the length of Dean's thighs to grasp his hips. He pulled Dean down to him so their hips rolled together and fire kindled in Dean's core. Castiel's eyes were wide and wanting and his mouth slid into a disbelieving smile.

"I think so," he rasped, nosing along Dean's jaw. "But we should do more of this."

Dean grinned, feeling himself melt under Castiel's warm breath. "We should...definitely make sure." He made his way to Castiel's lips again, reveling in the push and slide of their tongues together. The only sound, other than their moans, was the rasp of fabric as Dean began to frantically work at Castiel's tie and Castiel began to push at Dean's shirt. Dean slipped Castiel's tie from him, tossing it onto the bed and then set to work unbuttoning his shirt. He pulled back from the kiss and grinned at Castiel's flushed skin and hooded eyes; he probably looked similar.

They had already slept together. They'd cavorted on a better-than-reality tropical beach entirely nude together. Yet there was something about this moment, in his close quiet room, that made it feel like the first time. "I've dreamed about this," Dean confessed and Castiel's hands stilled from pushing his flannel to his elbows. He lifted hungry eyes.

"So have I." Castiel's face was transformed by his grin. It felt like the sun had somehow descended down into the bunker. He tugged at Dean's shirt and Dean helped him pull off his flannel. "Must you wear so many layers?" Castiel asked, his hands already fisted in Dean's t-shirt.

Dean snorted. "Look who's talking." He took over from Castiel, drawing his t-shirt over his head.

He paused for a moment as the cool air hit his skin, enjoying the way Castiel's eyes widened. Dean threw his shoulders back and grabbed Castiel's hand, pressing it against his sternum. Castiel took another moment of staring as though in awe before he leaned forward suddenly and flicked his tongue down and across a nipple. "Fuck," Dean groaned, taken entirely off guard and Castiel slipped his arm around his waist as he swayed. "Yeah, Cas. Just like that." He let his weight fall back into Castiel's strong embrace for several breaths, drowning in the assault on his senses. Castiel's tongue flicked and stroked and Dean moaned into the cool quiet of his bedroom. He pressed his hips down into Castiel's lap and ground up, feeling Castiel's hard length beneath him and his own cock straining against his jeans. It was agony straight from Heaven and he never wanted it to end.

They finished undressing each other in a haze of kisses and stroking hands, exploring each others' bodies under the blissful influence of reality. At last they lay in a pool formed by Castiel's trench coat and discarded dress shirt and jacket. Castiel had Dean's jeans open, his underwear pushed down, fingers wrapped around him in a loose ring. Dean uttered a low curse, raking his hand down the firm planes of Castiel's abdomen and scooted away from him, off the bed. He kept his gaze firmly locked on Castiel, a promise in his eyes that he wouldn't leave him - not this time. He shucked off his jeans and underwear, kicking them to the floor beside the bed. Then he wrapped his hands around Castiel's waistband and helped him to tug his own pants down and away.

At last Castiel lay naked on the bed - his bed. Dean paused for a moment, panting over him. The soft light of his bedside lamp cast Castiel's skin in rosy copper, his dark curls midnight black in the shaded room. "You're so..." Dean shook his head as he took in the man stretched across the bed, his thick thighs flexing over the edge. "You're so beautiful," he finished and then slowly leaned down to prop one hand on the bed. He wrapped his other hand around Castiel's cock and lowered his head to it, tracing his tongue along the tip. Castiel hissed at the attention, hips twitching as though he was barely controlling the urge to buck up into Dean's mouth. "Everything I see," Dean whispered, circling his tongue and running his thumb in a slow, languorous slide down the underside of Castiel's cock, "is beautiful. And everything I don't see, everything I may never see of you - is beautiful." He closed his mouth over Castiel's cock and sucked him down, reveling in the symphony of noises he was able to draw. The drag of fingers on fabric as Castiel clutched the covers, the wet slip and suck of his own mouth, the desperate moans he rattled from Castiel were music as old and delicate and powerful as anything he'd heard back in Heaven. When Castiel came it was with a choked gasp and a full body shudder, his hand shifting from the mattress to Dean's hair, pressing him down instinctively.

When Castiel finally shuddered back down, he pulled Dean towards him, tugging at his arms until Dean collapsed beside him. Their warm bodies pressed together, legs twining, Castiel claimed Dean's mouth. As he licked the salt from Dean's lips, Castiel worked his hand between them and brought Dean swiftly to his own bliss. Dean lost himself in the moment, panting against Castiel's lips and working his hips into Castiel's side. When he came to himself again, their stomachs were sticky between them and Castiel had brought his other palm down to cup Dean's ass. Dean dropped his forehead to Castiel's shoulder and grinned against it, enjoying the feeling of Castiel's bare shoulder blade against his cheek. He pressed a kiss there, then lifted his head to meet Castiel's warm gaze. Dean opened his mouth, feeling that the moment deserved some words of love or praise. But when he stared into Castiel's eyes he found words suddenly unnecessary. They had always had a knack for communicating soundlessly and Dean read love and endless devotion in Castiel's eyes. He stared in return, and sent the same back.

* * *

Castiel woke with the weight of Dean on him. They were knotted together in a tangle of limbs on Dean's bed, Dean's hair tickling his chin as he shifted in his sleep, head pillowed on his shoulder. He inhaled the sharp scent of the room, still tinged with their desperate lovemaking, and marveled that he was here at all.

They were _together_. Their history had been blood and battle soaked for so long, Castiel had long ago given up any notion of having more than friendship. When he added to that the grim weight of Heaven's displeasure at his "obsession" - as they'd termed it - this single quiet moment felt imbued with the weight of a miracle. How odd it was to finally have their last walls topple in Heaven, of all places. Of course, they had been brought together by an experience in Heaven that had been laced with the power of human souls. _There's the rub. Human souls,_ Castiel decided, _made all the difference_.

Castiel looked inward. His grace felt replenished. He had lain sleepless long after Dean marveling at the day's events before indulging in rest, and dreams. Now that he was awake, his dreams were distant mist but he thought they might have been peaceful. The thought that he might have finally achieved good dreams brought a smile to his lips.

Dean stirred in his arms, muscles flexing as he slowly woke. Castiel tensed, hand resting a little lighter on Dean's shoulder. Would Dean's walls rise up again now that he had slept and was feeling less vulnerable? Their loving words from the night before burned in Castiel like hot coals and he tried to hold onto them. He wasn't sure how he would be able to handle a cool gaze this morning.

"Good morning, Dean," Castiel said very quietly. "Did you sleep well?"

"Mmmph," Dean returned and he scrubbed his face against Castiel's shoulder and arched his feet in a stretch between Castiel's calves. He seemed to fall back asleep, body growing heavy again after that initial lazy stretch. Castiel lay still, barely daring to breathe for fear of disturbing their quiet connection. What did lovers speak of in the morning? In Metatron's transferred lore, there were love confessions, yes. But morning was also when second thoughts were voiced, bolstered by the clearer processes of a rested mind. The morning after was a mine field and one misstep might destroy the fragile thing they were building between them.

"Hmmm," Dean hummed a few minutes later. His breathing had begun to quicken and Castiel was on the verge of suggesting they retreat to the kitchen for coffee when Dean shifted his hips a little, bringing the hot weight of his filling cock against Castiel's thigh. His fingers flexed possessively along Castiel's ribs and he rolled his hips up along his side. “Good morning, Cas.”

"Oh," Castiel said stupidly, a disbelieving grin beginning to grow. "It is."

Dean shifted his chin to press a lingering kiss below the hollow of Castiel's collar bone. His fingers began to trace down from Castiel's ribcage to his hipbone, and down from there. The featherlight touches burned Castiel's skin and made him shiver even as his core began to kindle into fire. "Dean," he managed as his grace stirred into a whirlwind. "I--"

"Shhh," Dean said, rolling onto his elbow so that he lay half on Castiel. He pressed a gentle kiss to Castiel's lips as though silencing him. "This is called morning sex and it's very important." He punctuated the statement with another roll of his hips and then he pulled back far enough for Castiel to get a look look at his expression. Dean's pleasurably rumpled countenance was crowned with a smile, eyes wide and earnest. The direct gaze soothed Castiel. This wasn't Dean cloaking his emotions in physicality. He was here with Castiel, steady, warm and bright.

"Yes," Castiel's slid a hand up over Dean's thigh to rest it in the hollow of his waist. "I agree." Longing rose up in him like a lion. He pushed at Dean's hip and in one quick move, rolled over so that he lay on top of Dean. He undulated his spine, sliding his length along Dean's. "Very important." Dean lay beneath him, green eyes wide and startled and appearing as though he teetered on the edge of a laugh. Castiel decided his first mission of the morning would be to replace that knowing smirk with the blissed out look he'd been daydreaming about for years. He bent his head and started with Dean's delightfully sensitive nipple under his tongue.

Dean arched beneath his mouth and slid one hand across the nape of his neck and up into his hair. He tightened his hold, grabbing Castiel's sleep-tousled curls and pulling him up to meet his mouth. They kissed long and deep, cocks warm between them. Then Dean arched his neck, leading Castiel's mouth to the warm curve below his jaw. Castiel smiled and nipped at the lines of his throat, Dean's moan vibrating between them. "Cas," he panted. "You said something..." He gasped as Castiel sucked at the stretched hollow of his shoulder and his other hand traveled down to cup Castiel's hip, fingers pressing against the lower curve of his cheek.

"Yes, Dean?"

"Ah, right...right there." Dean gripped him tightly now, utterly open under Castiel. "On the island..." Dean drew his legs up to bracket Castiel's hips and Castiel rewarded the access with a long slow drag along Dean's upturned pelvis. "You remember what you said?"

Castiel chuckled. "I said many things." He brought up a palm to cradle Dean's cheek and slotted their lips together. "I said I love you. I desire you."

Dean's answering smile was warm as sun soaked honey and he slid his own hand along Castiel's cheekbone, stroking it softly with his thumb. "I love you too, Cas," he said. He ran one foot lightly along Castiel's leg, trailing it across the backs of his thighs. Once more, he rotated his hips so that Castiel's cock slid from his perineum to the hollow of his hip. "And I want..." He ground against Castiel again. "I want..."

Castiel fought to stay aware even as Dean's movements threatened to rob him of all higher functional thought. He would give Dean anything at all, of course. And then, as Dean rubbed against him again, realization dawned. Castiel shifted his weight to one arm and rolled his body to the side so he could reach between them. His fingers traveled past Dean's cock and down the soft skin between his legs. He pressed a finger to Dean's entrance. "You want?" he asked as Dean yelped and arched into his touch.

"God, yes," Dean gasped. "Got lube. Desk."

Castiel grinned helplessly and dipped into the well of his grace to cool slightly the fervor Dean's words struck in him. He sucked Dean's bottom lip into his mouth then smoothed it with his tongue. "Okay," he said. "Be right back." If he still had functioning wings he would have flown if it would have gotten him back between Dean's legs sooner. He rolled away and fumbled in the drawer, foot still hooked over one of Dean's outstretched legs. He found the tube at last, uncapped the lube and frowned at it. "What do I...?"

"Watching people for centuries," Dean laughed. "And never got around to figuring out lube. Use that and your fingers. Open me up." His lashes fluttered as Castiel wet one finger and pressed it between his legs. He moaned. "Uhn. Been a while so...so take it slow, 'kay?"

Castiel leaned down and drank in Dean's skin, skating his lips along the curve of his hip. "Of course," he said.

When Dean was finally groaning beneath him, begging for Castiel's cock, Castiel withdrew his fingers and slid lube along his own length. Their passion made Dean's soul swirl across his skin like waves brushing the sea, beautiful in its turmoil. "Oh, I'd bury deep my love in thee," Castiel whispered, then he pushed inside. He groaned at Dean's warm heat and waited until Dean signaled his readiness before moving. Their bodies rolled together like they were two rafts lashing onto each other on the ocean. When Dean came it was fierce and hot and strong as a riptide. It dragged Castiel to his own gasping release.

Later, sweaty, only half cleaned up, and having apparently finally regained his ability to speak in full sentences, Dean grinned at Castiel. “We got a full house this morning.”

Castiel rolled his cheek into the pillow, unwilling to play into Dean's prompt. If he had his way they would stay abed for rest of the day. “And?”

Dean sighed. “I should make breakfast. Or get groceries. Or both.” He lifted Castiel’s hand and brought it up to his lips, pressing his fingers to his mouth. Dean looked loose and comfortable, as though the addition of one more person to his bed somehow made him feel more complete. A little thrill shot through Castiel. _Our bed?_ It was an intoxicating thought. He rarely made the effort to sleep but if this would become a regular occurrence with Dean, he would gladly embrace sleep and the dreams they brought.

Castiel rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. "I don't want to leave here." The bed seemed to enclose them like the island, a circle of safety.

"I know." They lay together in the soft morning for a few more minutes before Dean laid Castiel’s hand carefully on the blanket between them. “Hey,” he said. “Be right back.”

Ignoring Castiel’s curious look Dean rolled away from him, dipping off the mattress and onto his feet. He padded over to his desk and slid open the top drawer. He rooted around in the back of the drawer and pulled out the object he sought. Carefully, Dean wrapped his fingers around it and slipped back into bed, lying back down to face Castiel.

Dean fumbled for Castiel’s hand and drew it up again between them. “This used to belong to my mom. Listen,” he said, “it ain't much. But if you want it--” Dean plucked the ring from his other hand and held it up so that he could look through it and meet Castiel’s eye. Then he took a deep breath and rolled his eyes upward, as though he might find a script dangling above the headboard. “Let me start again. Some people exchange rings as a token of their love and devotion. If you’re willing--”

 _Love and devotion._ The words caught at him and his grace coiled into a tight ball of joy. “Yes,” Castiel breathed.

Dean cleared his throat. “You, uh, you know what I’m asking?”

“Dean. I would rather be by your side than in any Heaven. I don't need a ring to say that, but if it helps us both to remember it...” Dean's answering grin threatened to crack him open and his hands shook as he slid the ring onto Castiel’s finger. The band was cool and solid, and Castiel understood that it tied him to the Earth as much as to the man lying next to him. “But I don’t have anything for you, Dean.” Castiel held up his hand so that the ring caught the light.

“S’okay. I’m good.” Dean wriggled closer, threading his foot between Castiel’s ankles and drawing his forehead even with his lover’s. Castiel gazed at Dean for a few minutes, considering. Then he smiled at him, lopsided and mischievous.

Castiel picked up Dean’s left hand and angled it towards his lips. Gently, he brushed his mouth against the base of Dean’s ring finger. When he drew back, a smug smile lighting his features, Dean burst into laughter. “You little fucker,” he said, holding up his hand to admire his new ring: a perfect circle of freckles circling his finger, left behind by Castiel’s kiss.

* * *

Later that morning Dean made pancakes as promised, though by the time he'd managed to coax Castiel into a shower _(Don't use your grace, man. That's no fun)_ the morning had almost completely elapsed. The bunker kitchen brimmed with people, overfull and overwarm. Dean wouldn't have it any other way. He slipped an extra pancake onto Eileen's plate, flipping her a wink because instead he might break down crying to see her alive and settled in Sam's embrace. Behind him pans rattled on the ancient stove and Dean mock whispered to Sam, making sure his lips formed rounded, enunciated words for Eileen to follow, and said, "Is it on fire yet?"

"I heard that, Dean." Castiel's dry voice cut over the din. "I'm still an angel."

Dean laughed and made his way back to the stove where Castiel stood watchful over four bubbling pancakes. Dean reached around him for the spatula and whispered in his ear so that his lips brushed skin, "Flip 'em when they start to bubble." He flipped the first and then handed the spatula to Castiel, pressing against his back as he turned the remaining three.

"You're very distracting," Castiel said a little breathlessly as he leaned back into Dean's body.

Dean slipped one hand around Castiel's waist, knotting it in the loose t-shirt he'd talked Castiel into wearing. Castiel in a loose, faded t-shirt and sweatpants was an unexpected kink and Dean couldn't wait to get him back to his room and peel it all off again. He nosed at the base of Castiel's neck. The knowledge that he could touch Castiel like this now threatened to push a shout of triumph from his lungs. This had been a long, long time coming. Somebody thumped him on the back of his shoulder.

"Get a room, you two," Charlie said as she brushed by. "Seriously. I'll take over cooking if you want." She leveled a wink at Dean reminiscent of her stint as Queen of Moons.

Dean grinned at her and then looked back at the rest of the kitchen. Ellen, Bobby, and Jo were settled in one corner, Ellen and Bobby seated far closer than friendship might dictate. Sam and Eileen curled around each other at the table, Kevin and Rufus traded dirty jokes by the door, and Hannah, Meg, and Bela had seemed to form an uneasy sisterhood overnight and were plying each other with increasingly outlandish "morning" cocktails. "Nah," he said. "I'm good."

Castiel's palm closed over the hand Dean had placed on his waist and squeezed gently. He leaned his head back, nuzzling it into Dean's shoulder and scrubbing his cheek against the stubble on Dean's jaw. He exuded pleased contentment like a purring cat when he murmured. "Me too."

Dean grinned and dropped his forehead to Castiel's shoulder and then slid their hands to Castiel's hip, pressing them close. "Love you," he whispered. Castiel sighed and seemed to settle further into Dean's arms.

"Love you, too."

Behind them, Sam cleared his throat with the force Dean had come to expect before a pronouncement. He turned, already guessing what it might be. “So, uh, guys. Before you all start taking off from the bunker, Eileen and I went through a lot on the island and, uh...”

Eileen grinned up at Sam and seeing him falter, took over. “We’re both adults, is what Sam is trying to say. And we’re getting married.”

“Handfasted, anyway.” Sam blushed at the table. “Since we don’t really live on any legal registers anyway. Bobby will you--?”

Bobby grunted, color lighting his cheeks. "Well." He cleared his throat. "Well, I'd be honored, Sam. Eileen."

Dean smiled so widely his cheeks hurt and joy burned in his chest like a pulsar. “That’s great, you guys.” His finger brushed the freckled ring on his hand and he glanced at Castiel who had turned from the stove, eyes aglow with fondness. It hit Dean then like a towering wave. He'd palmed off his feelings for Castiel for so long, calling him brother and family, as though the weight of the words might form a tether between them. This morning's exchange of rings had been impromptu and if anyone had noticed, nobody mentioned it. Their relationship had spent so many years circumscribed within unspoken lines. If living in a Shakespearean play had taught him anything, it was that sometimes things needed to be spoken. He cleared his throat. “You, uh, you mind if I get in on that too?”

Sam’s jaw dropped open as Dean knelt in front of Castiel. Castiel stood surprised, the spatula held in the air. “Cas,” Dean said. “Wanna make me an honest man in front of all of our family? I know we sort of--” He took up Castiel's hand and rolled his thumb across the ring. "Spoke our piece already. But if you're willing?"

Castiel blinked down at him then at the sea of smiling faces. He looked back down at Dean. “Yes, Dean.” He broke into a grin. “Yes, of course I will.”

Charlie hooted. “Double wedding! I’ll make the cake!” The room bloomed with laughter as Castiel pulled Dean up into his arms and kissed him soundly as he dropped the spatula, shoved the hot pan off the burner, and walked them away from the stove.

Dean pulled away first, lips kiss swollen and breathless. “So it all worked out, huh? Happy ending?”

Castiel nodded, fingers brushing his cheeks. “Happy ending,” he confirmed.

Contentment flowed in Dean like a steady current and he pulled Castiel into a tight hug, fisting his hands in his shirt. This change in their relationship had come on so suddenly but now that they were here, Dean felt nothing but warmth under the tropical strength of Castiel's love. They had made it through the storm and the future stretching out before them felt like a bright and shining country. He couldn't wait to explore it.

**THE END**

**__** _(curtains close)_

**Author's Note:**

> Towards the end of season 12 I felt like I was writing nothing but resurrection stories. While this story was first conceived as a way to resurrect Bobby, when the need arose to populate a cast of characters, I decided...to hell with it. Let’s resurrect ‘em all.
> 
> Please leave a comment and tell me what you thought! Reblog on Tumblr: [DCBB The Tempest](https://whichstiel.tumblr.com/post/166260443440/deancasbigbang-title-the-tempest)
> 
> Thanks for reading! I'm on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/whichstiel) and [Tumblr](http://whichstiel.tumblr.com/) @ whichstiel. You may also like the Supernatural recap and gif blog I co-write/curate, [Shirtless Sammy](https://shirtlesssammy.tumblr.com/).


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